Mourners gather as Hamas leader Haniyeh is buried in Qatar

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Iran on Wednesday, has been buried with Islamic rites in Qatar.

Funeral prayers were held at Qatar’s Imam Muhammed bin Abdul Wahhab Mosque – the country’s largest mosque – before his body was placed in a coffin draped in the Palestinian flag for burial at a cemetery in Lusail, a city north of Doha.

Several foreign officials were present at the funeral, including Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

Haniyeh was killed during a visit to the Iranian capitalIran and its allies blame Israel, although Israel has not accepted responsibility for his death.

The funeral was held with high security and was attended by prominent figures from both Hamas and its Palestinian rival Fatah – as well as many members of the public.

Hamas officials had earlier stood on the tarmac at Doha Airport as the plane carrying Haniyeh’s coffin landed from the Iranian capital Tehran on Thursday afternoon.

Türkiye and Pakistan declared a day of mourning on Friday to remember Haniyeh, while Hamas called for “angry marches… from every mosque” to take place after Friday prayers to protest against Haniyeh’s assassination.

In a private funeral for Haniyeh held in Tehran on Thursday, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, led prayers. He had earlier vowed that Israel would suffer a “Harsh punishment” to kill people.

Haniyeh has been working in Doha since around 2019. Hamas’ political office moved to the Qatari capital in 2012, after the previous office in Damascus, Syria closed.

Haniyeh has played a key role in indirect negotiations with Israel on a potential ceasefire in the war in Gaza.

The directors of the CIA, Mossad and the intelligence agencies of Egypt and Qatar attended the talks in Doha.

Haniyeh’s burial capped a week of heightened tensions in the Middle East, which escalated with killed 12 children and teenagers in an attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Israel blamed Hezbollah and vowed to retaliate “severely”, although Hezbollah denied involvement.

A few days later, Hezbollah senior commander Fuad Shukr has been killed in a targeted Israeli airstrike in Beirut. Four others, including two children, were also killed.

Hours later, Ismail Haniyeh, a key supporter of Hamas, was assassinated in Iran. He was visiting to attend the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian.

Israel has not claimed responsibility for the assassination, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later said Israel had dealt “crushing blows” to Iranian proxy groups in recent days.

A senior Hamas official told the BBC the killing took place in the same building where Haniyeh had stayed on previous visits to Iran. Three Hamas leaders and several guards were with him in the same building, they said.

The killing of Haniyeh has left the Hamas leadership in a state of “state of shock”, senior Hamas officials told the BBC.

The circumstances surrounding his death remain unclear.

Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official, quoted witnesses at the scene as saying at a news conference that a rocket had hit Haniyeh “directly”.

But a report in New York TimesCiting seven officials, said Haniyeh was killed by a bomb smuggled into the building where he was staying two months ago.

The BBC has not been able to verify any of these claims.