The death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has been awaited for more than two months.

The death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has been awaited for more than two months. The New York Times reported, citing several US and Middle East officials, that a bomb was secretly smuggled into a guesthouse in Iran where it was expected to arrive.

He was holed up in a guesthouse in a posh area of ​​Tehran, protected by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) – about two months ago. The guest house was inside a large compound used by the IRGC for its secret meetings and accommodation for important guests.

The wait, though, was long, it was fruitful.

Haniyeh, a senior Hamas negotiator who led its political delegation to Qatar, arrived in Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pizshakyan.

On Tuesday morning, it was confirmed that he was in his room at the guesthouse and that the killers detonated the bomb remotely, the NYT reports. The explosion shook the building. A part of the wall collapsed. The windows were broken.

Haniyeh and a bodyguard were killed in the attack, which Hamas described as a “treacherous Zionist attack on his residence in Tehran”. A Palestinian group engaged in deadly fighting over Israel’s Gaza campaign called it a “serious escalation” as it blamed Israel for the killings.

The killing of the Hamas chief threatened to derail talks to end the war and trigger another wave of violence.

Israel has not yet claimed responsibility. But the report said Israeli intelligence officials immediately shared details of the covert operation with Western officials.

Top US diplomat Anthony Blanken denied that the US had any prior knowledge of the assassination plot.

It was previously speculated that Haniyeh was killed in a missile strike, but the missile theory raised doubts about how Israel evaded air defenses in the Iranian capital. The damage caused by this was minimal, much less than what would have been caused by a missile attack.

The report found that the assassins were able to find a loophole in Iranian security to smuggle the bomb in, although it is not clear how they managed to hide it for two months.

There were rumors that witnesses saw a missile-like object hit the window of Haniyeh’s room, but Iranian officials have confirmed that the explosion occurred inside the room and that the bomb had been planted beforehand.

According to Middle Eastern officials, the planning took months and required detailed surveillance of the compound. The planning was so precise that the next room, where Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Ziad al-Nakhlah was staying, was spared as much damage.

The killing has caused great embarrassment to Iranian officials who still cannot figure out how and when the bombs were planted.

A medical team at the compound declared Haniya dead. They also failed to revive the bodyguard.

Israel’s espionage and foreign intelligence agency, the Mossad, is primarily tasked with killings outside the country. Mossad chief David Barnia vowed to track down Hamas leaders after the October 7 attacks.

He said it would take time to catch Palestinian leaders, as was the case after the Munich massacre.

Barnia was referring to the killing of 11 Israeli athletes by Palestinian activists at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. Mossad activated its hit squad to carry out ‘Operation Wrath of God’ covert operation, codenamed Bayonet, to avenge the murder.

(Tags translation) Ismail Haniyeh(T)Hamas(T)Israel



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