Death for Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh was more than two months in the making. A bomb was secretly smuggled into the Iranian guesthouse where he was expected to arrive, The New York Times reported, citing multiple officials in the US, Iran and other Middle Eastern regions.
It was hidden about two months ago in a guesthouse located in a posh area of Tehran, which is protected by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The guesthouse was inside a large compound used by the IRGC for its secret meetings and to accommodate important guests.
Though the wait was long, it was fruitful.
Hamas’ top negotiator Haniyeh, who led its political delegation to Qatar, arrived in Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
On Tuesday morning, it was confirmed that he was in his room at the guesthouse and that the assassins detonated the bomb remotely, the NYT reported. The explosion shook the building. A portion of the wall collapsed. Windows shattered.
Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards were killed in what Hamas called “a treacherous Zionist attack on his residence in Tehran.” The Palestinian group, involved in deadly fighting over Israel’s Gaza campaign, called it a “serious escalation” and blamed Israel for the killing.
The killing of the Hamas chief threatens to derail talks to end the war and trigger a new wave of violence.
Israel has not yet claimed responsibility. But the report said Israeli intelligence officials immediately shared information about the covert operation with Western officials.
Top US diplomat Antony Blinken had denied that the US had prior knowledge of the assassination plot.
It was previously speculated that Haniyeh was killed in a missile attack, but the missile theory raised doubts about how Israel managed to evade the air defense systems in the Iranian capital. The damage caused was minimal, much less than that caused by a missile attack.
The report found that the killers were able to smuggle the bomb by breaking through Iranian security, though it is still unclear how they managed to keep it hidden for two months.
There were rumours that witnesses had seen a missile-like object falling on the window of Haniya’s room, but Iranian authorities have confirmed that the explosion occurred inside the room and that the bomb had been planted in advance.
According to Middle Eastern officials, the plan took months to create and required detailed surveillance of the premises. The planning was so precise that the next room, where Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Ziad al-Nakhlah was staying, was not damaged as much.
The killing has caused great embarrassment to Iranian authorities, as they have not yet been able to determine how or when the bombs were planted.
The medical team present at the premises declared Haniyeh dead. They were also unable to save the bodyguard.
Mossad, Israel’s spy and foreign intelligence agency, is primarily tasked with assassinations outside the country. Mossad chief David Barnea vowed to capture Hamas leaders after the October 7 attacks.
He said it would take time to reach out to Palestinian leaders, as it did after the Munich massacre.
Barnea was referring to the killing of 11 Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists at the Munich Olympics in 1972. Mossad activated its hit squad to carry out a covert operation called ‘Operation Wrath of God’, codenamed Bayonet, to avenge the killings.
