NEWS GLEAMS | Assassination of Hamas Leader in Iran Raises Middle East Tensions

A roundup of news and announcements we don't want to get lost in the fast-churning news cycle.

by Vee Hua 華婷婷

Assassinations of Hamas and Hezbollah Leaders Raise Tensions in Middle East

The head of the Political Bureau of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, along with his bodyguard, was assassinated during a targeted pre-dawn strike in Tehran, Iran. Haniyeh was normally based in Qatar, but he was in Tehran for an inauguration ceremony for Iran's new president, Masoud Pezeshkian. The assassination came amid ongoing attempts to reach a cease-fire deal in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, of which Haniyeh was a key negotiator on the side of Hamas.

While the party that carried out the strike has not yet been confirmed, and Israel has not confirmed or denied its involvement, Israel is largely assumed to be the party behind the attack, as it has previously pledged to kill Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders.

Radio Free Europe reported, "The Israeli government has yet to comment officially, but a photo of Haniyeh with a stamp on his forehead saying 'Eliminated' was posted on the Government Press Office's Facebook page. The post, which was later deleted without explanation, did not specifically claim the strike was carried out by Israel, though it noted the Hamas official 'was killed in a precise strike in Tehran.'"

The assassination of Haniyeh came less than 12 hours after Israel claimed to kill a top Hezbollah military commander, Fuad Shukr, during a targeted strike in Beirut, Lebanon, though Hezbollah is still confirming the potential death. Following Hamas' Oct. 7 offensive into Israel and the ongoing war on Gaza, Hezbollah, an armed military group formed in the 1980s during the Lebanese Civil War, began to participate in ongoing military offensives with Israel in an attempt to ease the pressure of Israel's ongoing bombardment of Gaza. Hezbollah and Hamas are both part of the Iranian-led Axis of Resistance.

Israel had originally vowed retribution on Hezbollah following a rocket attack on Saturday, July 27, that killed 12 children and teenagers from a Druze village in Golan Heights — an area of Syria that has been occupied by Israel since 1967 and was annexed by Israel in 1981 in a move that has been declared null and void by international communities and the United Nations.

Hezbollah had also vehemently and immediately denied its involvement in the attack on the largely Arab Druze minority community. The Druze residents of the affected town, Majdal Shams, had also protested the presence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling him a "killer" and "war criminal," when he attempted to visit the village to show his support.

International Reactions to the Deaths of Ismail Haniyeh and Fuad Shukr

Leaders across the world have been quick to condemn the killing of the Hamas leader in Iran, with most attributing the death to Israel. Jordan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called the action a "violation of international law and international humanitarian war that will push towards more tension and chaos in the region." Egypt, another key mediator in the cease-fire talks, called on the United Nations Security Council to help lower escalating tensions in the Middle East, stating that the killing could increase confrontations "in a way that would lead to severe security complications."

"This is something we were not aware of or involved in," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated Wednesday morning, during an interview with Channel News Asia in Singapore. "I've learned, over many years, never to speculate on the impact one event may have on something else. … I can tell you that the imperative of getting a cease-fire … remains."

In a briefing about Israel's "precise operation" to kill Shukr in Beirut, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant did align the United States with Israel's actions, as he told U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin "that the ties between Israel and the United States are central to Israel's standing in the region and to deterring Iran and its proxies."

According to CNN, "The White House has seen the reports of Haniyeh's killing, a spokesperson said, but declined to immediately comment further. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he does not think war in the Middle East is inevitable, but if Israel were to be attacked, the US would help defend it."

The government of Qatar, which has been leading the cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas, released a statement condemning the action. "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stresses that the assassination and reckless targeting of civilians will lead the region into chaos and undermine the chances of peace," it read.

The Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani added on X, "Political assassinations & continued targeting of civilians in Gaza while talks continue leads us to ask, how can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side?"

Iran has declared three days of national mourning to honor Haniyeh's death. Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has said Iran will make Israel "regret its cowardly action," and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has vowed a "harsh and painful response."

Hamas' armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said in a statement that Haniyeh's killing would "not pass in vain" and was a "grave escalation." It added that the actions "take the battle to new dimensions and have major repercussions," according to Reuters.

U.S. Department of the Interior Finalizes Report on Indian Boarding Schools

The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), which houses the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), has released the second and final volume of its investigative report into the United States' troubled history around federal Indian boarding schools. Between 1871 and 1969, boarding schools often took Indigenous youth away from their communities and forced them to assimilate, lose their language and culture, and experience abuse and maltreatment. The initial volume of the investigative report was published in May 2022.

The Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative first launched in June 2021 by DOI Secretary Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo) — the first Native American to hold such a role — and was led by Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland. The project has been a three-year initiative to help address the intergenerational impact and trauma caused by boarding schools, and it has involved a number of nationwide listening sessions and meetings with tribal communities. It reflects a similar initiative Canada began in 2007; led by its Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Canada has been on the journey of assessing the impact of its residential schools, which are equivalent to the boarding schools in the U.S.

Information-gathering for the investigative report involved the 12-stop "Road to Healing" Tour, which involved a stop in Washington State. Washington State had 15 federal Indian boarding schools. None was within Seattle city limits, but at least five were located nearby in Everett, Federal Way, Tacoma, and Olympia. Others were located on the Olympic Peninsula, near Yakima, and in Eastern Washington.

"The federal government — facilitated by the Department I lead — took deliberate and strategic actions through federal Indian boarding school policies to isolate children from their families, deny them their identities, and steal from them the languages, cultures and connections that are foundational to Native people," Secretary Haaland said in the DOI's press release. "The Road to Healing does not end with this report — it is just beginning."

Details and Recommendations From the Investigative Report

The DOI's report confirms that at least 973 American Indian, Alaska Native, or Native Hawaiian children died while attending one of the 417 federal Indian boarding schools, which were located across 37 states or then-territories. At least 74 marked or unmarked burial sites were found at 65 different school sites.

Included are detailed profiles of each boarding school and the identification of an additional 1,025 institutions that did not satisfy the report's four criteria for investigation but advanced goals of assimilation and education of Native American children.

According to a press release from the DOI, the second volume of the investigative report also "includes policy recommendations for consideration by Congress and the Executive Branch to continue to chart a path to healing and redress for Indigenous communities." The DOI estimates that, adjusting for inflation for fiscal year 2023, around $23.3 billion was spent on the federal Indian boarding school system and similar assimilation-related policies and institutions.

The recommendations include:

• Issuing a formal acknowledgment and apology from the U.S. government regarding its role in adopting and implementing national federal Indian boarding school policies;
• Investing in remedies to the present-day impacts of the federal Indian boarding school system;
• Establishing a national memorial to acknowledge and commemorate the experiences of Indian Tribes, individuals, and families affected by the federal Indian boarding school system;
• Identifying and repatriating remains of children and funerary objects who never returned from federal Indian boarding schools;
• Returning former federal Indian Boarding school sites to Tribes;
• Telling the story of federal Indian boarding schools to the American people and global community;
• Investing in further research regarding the present-day health and economic impacts of the federal Indian boarding school system; and
• Advancing international relationships in other countries with similar but their own unique histories of boarding schools or other assimilationist policies.

"For the first time in the history of the United States, the federal government is accounting for its role in operating historical Indian boarding schools that forcibly confined and attempted to assimilate Indigenous children. This report further proves what Indigenous peoples across the country have known for generations — that federal policies were set out to break us, obtain our territories, and destroy our cultures and our lifeways," said Assistant Secretary Newland, via the DOI's press release. "It is undeniable that those policies failed, and now, we must bring every resource to bear to strengthen what they could not destroy. It is critical that this work endures, and that federal, state and Tribal governments build on the important work accomplished as part of the Initiative."

Office of Arts & Culture Seeks Applications for Seattle's Next Civic Poet

The Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, working in collaboration with the Seattle City of Literature, is seeking the city's next Civic Poet. The awardee will participate in a two-year residency and be seen as a cultural ambassador for Seattle's literary community.

They will also receive $25,000 for a commission that runs from early 2025 to the end of 2026, during which time they will be encouraged to participate in city events, foster community dialogue and engagement, and work at the intersection of the City, the public, and other artists. The funds are intended to cover time for writing, administration, artist fees, performances, event costs, materials, travel, taxes, and other project-related expenses.

Seattle-based poets with an established body of work are encouraged to apply. Established bodies of work may include published works, self-published works, readings, and spoken word; project-planning experience and an applied racial equity practice are also encouraged. An applicant cannot be an enrolled student at the time of the application due date.

Applications are due by 5 p.m. on Aug. 20 via Submittable. Applying is free, and those who need assistance or lack computer and internet access may contact Project Manager Zach Frimmel at 206-963-9226 or Zach.Frimmel@Seattle.gov.

Application guidelines are available in Amharic, Chinese (Traditional), Korean, English, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.

Early applicants may submit a draft of their material for feedback up until 5 p.m. on Aug. 6. Those who submit after Aug. 6 will not be able to receive full feedback, though project managers will still be available to answer questions or check for eligibility and application completeness.

📸 Featured Image: Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Political Bureau of Hamas, attends a groundbreaking ceremony of Rafah Medical Complex in the southern Gaza Strip on Nov. 23, 2019. (Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib via Anas-Mohammed/Shutterstock.com)

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