Ismail Haniyeh, the Doha-based political bureau chief of Hamas, was assassinated using an explosive device that was smuggled into the guesthouse he was staying at in Tehran, Iran, according to a report in the New York Times.
The bomb was hidden nearly two months ago in the guesthouse, the report claimed, citing seven Middle Eastern officials, including two Iranians, and an American official. The bomb was detonated remotely after it was confirmed that Haniyeh was in the room at the guesthouse. The blast also killed one of Haniyeh’s bodyguards.
Reports indicate that the blast was so powerful that it shook the building and shattered some windows causing the partial collapse of an exterior wall.
Notably, the guesthouse where Haniyeh met his fate was run and protected by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps which suggests it was a massive intelligence failure on the part of Tehran.
Israel briefed US about attack
Haniyeh was in the Iranian capital to attend the presidential inauguration of Masoud Pezeshkian, recently endorsed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Both Iranian officials and Hamas on Wednesday (Jul 31) claimed that Israel was responsible for the assassination. Hamas in a statement said its leader was killed in “a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran”.
“Brother, leader, mujahid Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the movement, died in a Zionist strike on his headquarters in Tehran after he participated in the inauguration of the new (Iranian) president,” said the group.
Up until now, Israel has neither acknowledged nor rejected Iran or Hamas’ claims about the assassination. The NYT report, however, claimed that Tel Aviv had briefed the United States and other Western governments on the details of the operation in the immediate aftermath.
Haniyeh was appointed to the Hamas top job in 2017. He moved between Turkey and Qatar’s capital Doha, escaping the travel curbs of the blockaded Gaza Strip.
Iran has vowed to retaliate against Israel after the attack with Khamenei proclaiming that avenging Haniyeh’s blood was their ‘duty’. Other Iranian leaders, including Pezeshkian, have also openly stated that the nation has a right to defend itself against a transgression on its sovereignty.
(With inputs from agencies)