Israel had vowed to kill Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders following the group’s October 7, 2023, wildcat strike on southern Israel, which triggered the Gaza war.
Mossad—one of the three major intelligence organizations of Israel tasked with foreign intelligence gathering and analysis, and covert operations—recruited Iranian security agents to plant explosives in a guesthouse in Tehran where top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was staying, according to a report in The Telegraph. Israel had vowed to kill Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders following the group’s October 7, 2023, wildcat strike on southern Israel, which triggered the Gaza war.
An Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) official told the newspaper they were now sure Mossad had employed agents from the Ansar al-Mahdi security unit, which is responsible for protecting high-ranking officials, says the Times of Israel.
The initial plan, in May this year, was to eliminate Haniyeh when he visited Tehran to attend President Ebrahim Raisi’s funeral. However, two Iranian officials told the newspaper that the mission was aborted because there were too many people in the building, rendering the operation a possible failure.
Haniyeh had travelled to Tehran on Tuesday (July 30), to attend the swearing-in ceremony of President Masoud Pezeshkian. The killing occurred shortly after Haniyeh had attended the inauguration of Iran’s new president in that city. He had stayed in a guesthouse managed and guarded by the IRGC in a wealthy area of northern Tehran. He had frequently stayed in this guesthouse during his earlier visits to the city.
The British newspaper reports that, despite the initial plan having been called off, the agents still planted explosives in three rooms of the guesthouse and then left Iran. They are said to have detonated the bombs remotely from another country. Iranian officials claim to have CCTV footage of the building which shows agents slinking in and out of several rooms in a matter of mere minutes.
Early in the morning—at 2:00 am—on Wednesday (July 31), the IRGC announced that Haniyeh and his Iranian bodyguard had been killed in a predawn operation by the ‘Zionist entity’, referring to Israel. Hamas, in a statement, also confirmed that Haniyeh had been killed in a raid at his residence in Tehran.
Another IRGC official said this incident was a very big embarrassment for Iran as it showed a significant loophole in its security apparatus. He said it was not clear how it could have happened and that there must be something going on at the higher echelons of the organization that nobody was aware of.
Hezbollah Commander Trageted
Haniyeh’s killing occurred close on the heels of Israel targeting a senior commander of the militant organization and ally of Iran, the Hezbollah, in Beirut, Lebanon’s capital. This incident has worsened tensions between Israel and the Hezbollah that are already running high. International diplomats were trying to ease the situation after a weekend rocket attack killed 12 young people in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
On the evening of Tuesday (July 30), Israel conducted a rare strike in Beirut, the Lebanese capital, claiming it had killed a senior Hezbollah commander allegedly responsible for the rocket attack. The Hezbollah, which denied involvement in the Golan attack, confirmed the death of Fouad Shukur on Wednesday, stating he was in the building that had been hit.
Haniyeh’s assassination was highly dangerous due to its target, timing and location in Tehran, which could have escalated the region’s already tense conflicts. There was significant risk of a direct confrontation between Iran and Israel if Iran decided to retaliate. The US and other countries quickly stepped in to prevent a broader, and potentially more deadly, conflict.
In a statement on his official website, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said seeking revenge was their duty and that Israel had “invited severe punishment upon itself” by killing “a dear guest in our home”. The Haniyeh episode could also result in Hamas walking away from the ceasefire and hostage release talks table. US mediators had earlier said the negotiations were progressing well.
Earlier this year, Israel and Iran, long-time rivals, nearly went to war when Israel attacked Iran’s embassy in Damascus in April. Iran responded with retaliatory strikes, which Israel fended off, leading to a never-before exchange of hits on each other’s territory. However, international efforts managed to contain the situation before it could escalate.
(The author of this article is a Defence, Aerospace & Political Analyst based in Bengaluru. He is also Director of ADD Engineering Components, India, Pvt. Ltd, a subsidiary of ADD Engineering GmbH, Germany. You can reach him at: girishlinganna@gmail.com)
(Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own and do not reflect those of DNA)
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