The strike that killed Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ political leader, in Tehran on Wednesday morning sparked mixed reactions from Capitol Hill, with legislators supportive of efforts to remove Hamas leadership while expressing concern about regional tensions escalating into a broader war. 

Haniyeh, who had traveled to Iran for the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian, was killed in a strike on the building in which he was staying. Hamas blamed Israel for the pinpoint attack, while Israeli officials have not acknowledged involvement.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) told Jewish Insider that he was among those who worried about what the strike would mean for efforts to turn down the temperature in the region. 

“I’m worried about expanding this war,” Durbin said.

Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, felt similarly. “It increases, dramatically, the pressure in the region. I think we’re doing all we can to try to mitigate an escalation, and that’s the key thing we have to worry about now,” Reed said. “One would expect some response by the Iranians, and Hamas and Hezbollah. The question is, is it measured and doesn’t trigger an escalation or is it over the top?”

“If they could negotiate a cease-fire, but then continue to put pressure on that leadership of Hamas, that would make more sense,” Reed added. 

Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) told JI that he is “extraordinarily worried about escalation. We’re seeing it now in Lebanon and with Iran. The longer the Gaza war goes on, the longer they delay with a ceasefire, the worse the escalatory tensions get.”

“Also, what I understand is that the person they killed was the person they were negotiating with on the cease-fire, so I’m fearful this is going to further set back the opportunity to get the hostages home,” the Vermont senator added.  

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that there are no confirmed reports about who was responsible for the Haniyeh killing, but said that “it makes it much more challenging right now in regards to the hostage negotiations, and it makes a hot situation even hotter for our concerns about the expansion of the conflict.”

He acknowledged, focusing on Israel’s strike that killed Hezbollah senior commander Fuad Shukr in southern Beirut, that those killed were terrorists and responsible for the deaths of Americans, but said that attacks inside foreign sovereign states “presents challenges for the United States.”

Cardin said he’s “not shocked” to see the strike in Beirut, in light of the Hezbollah attack on the Golan Heights that killed 12 children playing soccer in the Druze town of Majdal Shams, but the U.S. has “urged Israel to be measured in their responses” and “we are concerned about that type of a deep penetration into Lebanon, well beyond just the border areas.”

He said that such a “tit-for-tat… makes it more challenging” to get to a hostage deal as well, while also describing Hamas as still the most significant obstacle to a deal and potentially not serious about an agreement.

Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL), among the most vocal pro-Israel Democrats in the House, said that “no one should mourn Haniyeh’s death — the world is better without him.”

But, he added, “the enemies of peace will use his death to call for more violence,” and “I am concerned about the immediate risk of escalation in the region and an increase in complexity of the negotiations to free the hostages in Gaza, including the American eight.”

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) appeared to express some understanding of Israel’s need to target leaders, telling Politico that, “Israel has a right to defend itself — and — we need a cease-fire.”

Republicans were quick to defend the strike, with numerous senators comparing the strike to former President Donald Trump’s decision to assassinate Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in 2020. 

“A lot of people, including Democrat senators, said that the killing of Soleimani by President Trump was not impactful with regard to deterrence. And I think a lot of us know for a fact that it was impactful. So one hit like this can make a big difference,” Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) said.

“The terrorists have been escalating since Oct. 7,” he said in defense of Israeli military action. “Iran not only has been backing Hamas and Hezbollah and the Houthis. Iran invaded Israel, we seem to have forgotten that one, with drones. The first full-scale invasion by Iran of Israel, ever. That’s escalation, that’s all escalation.”

“What we need to do is reestablish deterrence and that’s what Israel is doing right now. There’s a very big difference between reestablishing deterrence after people have started a war against you and escalating, which is not what we or certainly Israel is doing,” the Alaska senator continued. 

Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) said that threats of retaliation shouldn’t prevent the U.S. or Israel from acting to quell anger from Iran or its proxies, pointing to the Soleimani strike and Trump moving the Israeli Embassy to Jerusalem. 

“When Trump took out Soleimani everyone was panicking about it. Remember, everyone panicked when he moved the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Everyone said there was going to be rioting in the streets, and there wasn’t. You can’t live in constant fear of what could be, you’ve got to actually make decisions that are often really hard and life or death,” Lankford said.

Asked about concerns about how Iran, Hezbollah or Hamas would respond to the most recent strikes, the Oklahoma senator said that retaliation “is always a concern.”

“Iran’s not a rational actor, and their support of terrorism in the region has destabilized the entire region, so we’re all concerned about that,” Lankford said. “I’m sure Israel is concerned about that as well, but they’ve also got a mission to try and make some of the terrorist actions stop.”

“Israel is right to hit the leaders and masterminds of terrorism organizations hell-bent on the destruction of the Jewish state, anytime, anywhere,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said Wednesday while discussing the strikes that took out Haniyeh and Shukr. 

“Haniyeh, the negotiator for Hamas, was not a moderate. There were no moderate Nazis and there are no moderate members of Hamas. He knew what the organization was about, and I hold him responsible, as Israel did, for the attack of Oct. 7,” he said. “He was killed in Iran. Why was he in Iran? He was in Iran to pay homage to the new president of Iran, a so-called moderate. At the ceremony acknowledging the election of this new moderate, the audience was chanting ‘Death to America. Death to Israel.’ To the world, wake up before it’s too late.”

Asked about the concern from hostage families that Hamas’ hostage negotiator being killed would stall talks for a deal, Graham replied, “Real concern, I understand it, but I also understand what Israel is trying to do. They’re trying to stop further attacks against the Jewish state. And I do believe that the best way to get hostages released is [to] make the cost of doing business so high for Iran, they will change course. I think that’s the tactic Israel has taken.”

“They have vowed to hold those responsible for Oct. 7, anytime, anywhere. They’re making good on that promise. I still believe it’s possible to have a ceasefire and to have the hostages released, but the actions by Israel today or yesterday, I think are a continuation of a policy that’s served the Jewish state well,” he explained. 

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) also dismissed the concerns, telling JI, “The escalation occurred on Oct. 7. When they did that, they created this mess.”

“They’ve been very clear that they’re gonna go after the people that are accountable for the attack on Oct. 7. He is right in the line of leadership on this thing and it does not surprise me one bit that they went after him,” he added.

Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC), who has been among the Senate’s most outspoken critics of Qatar for harboring Haniyeh and other Hamas leadership, said that the killings “send a clear and resounding message to terrorists that those who kill and kidnap Americans will ultimately face justice.”

“Terrorists with American blood on their hands should be mourned by no one, especially by a major non-NATO ally like Qatar,” Budd said. “Maximum pressure on Hamas terrorists is the best way to secure the release of hostages.”