RAMALLAH, Palestine

A Palestinian priest has mourned Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in the Iranian capital, Tehran, early Wednesday.

“The pure blood of martyrs build nations,” Archimandrite Abdullah Yulio, parish priest of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church in the West Bank city of Ramallah, told Anadolu.

Haniyeh's death is "the fate of every devotee of his people," he added.

"We pray every day for peace in the land of peace Palestine, and there is no peace in the presence of the (Israeli) occupation," the priest said.

While Hamas and Iran blamed Israel for Haniyeh’s assassination, Tel Aviv has not yet confirmed or denied its responsibility.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

At least 39,445 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 91,000 injured, according to local health authorities.

Nearly 10 months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar