The assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday risks the region spiralling into a wider conflict and could help or hurt prospects for a ceasefire deal to end Israel’s war on Gaza, several analysts told Al Jazeera.

Haniyeh was killed while attending the inauguration of reformist Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Iran’s capital, Tehran. Hamas has blamed the assassination on Israel, saying in a statement that Haniyeh was killed in “a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran”. There was no immediate comment from Israel.

The attack occurred hours after Israel struck a building on Tuesday evening in Dahiya, a bustling neighbourhood in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, killing Fuad Shukr, a top commander from the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. The strike in Beirut came three days after an attack killed 12 Druze children in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights which Israel has blamed on Hezbollah, although the group denies responsibility.