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GAZA, Jan. 4-- Several Gaza-based factions and military wings are on alert for any possible escalation as a result of the U.S. killing of senior Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, according to local Palestinian analysts. The analysts said these political factions and military wings in Gaza, mainly the Islamic Hamas movement and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, "are so strong," which vowed a powerful avenge to Soleimani's assassination. Early on Friday, Soleimani, commander of Quds Force of Iranian Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy chief of Iraq's paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces, were killed in a U.S. drone strike near Baghdad airport, sparking outrage among some political factions and military wings in Gaza. Hani al-Masri, director of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy Research & Strategic Studies, told Xinhua that the assassination of Soleimani and any upcoming escalation that may erupt in the region will be a hot start, leading to possible large changes in the region and in the entire world. He suggested that all Palestinian parties should study all possible scenarios and get ready to all possibilities amid the serious regional and international concerns of a possible escalation in the region. Ismail Haniyeh, politburo chief of Hamas said in a statement that the assassination of Soleimani "will lead to serious consequences in the region and Palestine." | 
