Thousands gather in Turkiye following death of Hamas leader

Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Istanbul on Saturday evening to denounce the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Iran earlier this week.

Haniyeh was buried on Friday in Qatar, where he had been based. Israel, accused by Hamas, Iran and others of the attack, has not directly commented on it.

Gathered at the call of several conservative and pro-government associations, demonstrators waved Turkish and Palestinian flags, as well as portraits of Haniyeh in front of the former Byzantine basilica Hagia Sophia.

“Israel has murdered an important hero in a way that suits it: treacherously,” said Bilal Erdogan, the son of the Turkish head of state, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

He added: “Haniyeh had called on millions of people to demonstrate (for Gaza). We respect his last wish.”

On Wednesday, the Turkish leader condemned the “perfidious assassination” of his “brother” Haniyeh, which he said was the work of “Zionist barbarity.”

Haniyeh, who frequently resided in Turkiye before the war in Gaza, was received in Istanbul in April by Erdogan, a fervent supporter of Hamas, which he describes as a “liberation movement.”

Israel, the United States, the European Union and others have designated the Palestinian Islamist movement as a terrorist organization.

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas in retaliation for its unprecedented October 7 attack which triggered the war in Gaza and resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Militants also seized 251 hostages, 111 of whom are still held captive in Gaza, including 39 the military says are dead.

Israel’s campaign against Hamas has killed at least 39,550 people in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry, which does not give details of civilian and militant deaths.