Khaled Mashal

A memorial service for Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader killed in a Tehran strike, was held Friday at Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.

Thousands attended to pay their respects during Friday prayers. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had been scheduled to speak, canceled his appearance at the last minute and declared Friday a national day of mourning for Haniyeh.

The funeral of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was held in Qatar, while memorial services took place in Turkey, Lebanon, Yemen, Pakistan, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

On Friday, as the West braces for potential destabilizing actions in the Middle East, thousands gathered in Doha for prayers before the burial of the head of the Islamist organization, Hamas.

Heavy fighting rocked Gaza on Tuesday after G7 and Arab powers urged both Israel and Hamas to agree to a truce and hostage release deal outlined by U.S. President Joe Biden.

Mediator Qatar said it had yet to see statements from either side "that give us a lot of confidence", but the foreign ministry said Doha was "working with both sides on proposals on the table".

The U.N. Security Council struggled to find a unified voice Tuesday on pausing the Israel-Hamas war as aid efforts neared collapse and global economic fallout spread.

With calls growing for a new truce, Qatar-based Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh is to visit Egypt on Wednesday for talks on a ceasefire in Gaza and a prisoner exchange with Israel, a source close to the Islamist group said.

Senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was elected chief of the group's political bureau, a Hamas source said on May 6. 

Haniyeh was selected in polls that were held on May 6 in both the Gaza Strip and Doha simultaneously via video conference. 

He will replace Khaled Meshaal, who has been Hamas political chief since 1996. 

The last support in the Middle East for the "Muslim Brotherhood" ended on May 2. Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal personally declared the new policy document of his organization, announcing that it is not a "branch of the Muslim Brotherhood" anymore. He also declared that Hamas would form better relations with Egypt and other Muslim countries that have problems with the Muslim Brotherhood.

Hamas has presented a new political document that accepts the formation of a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders, without recognising the statehood of Israel, and says that the conflict in Palestine is not a religious one.

The exiled head of Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, said "positive contacts" have been made towards securing a long-term truce with Israel, in a video posted Friday on an Arab website.

Israel said on August 17 it was not engaged in talks with Hamas following a flurry of media reports suggesting the two sides were discussing a long-term ceasefire.

A senior Hamas leader is set to arrive in Turkey for a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, amid a flurry of regional contacts made by Hamas that has particularly intensified after the recent nuclear deal between Iran and Western powers.