Israeli media reveals exclusive details on Hamas ex-political leader's assassination

After Israel has officially confirmed it's involvement in the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, previously unknown details were released on December 29 about the operation.

The Israeli Channel 12 television broadcaster aired an exclusive investigative report on the assassination of the head of Hamas's political bureau, which occurred on July 31 in Tehran. According to the broadcaster, Israeli military censor had allowed the release of new information about the operation in the Iranian capital.

Haniyeh had been living in Qatar, the report informed, but conducting an operation there risked disrupting hostage negotiations that were taking place at the time in Doha. As Caliber.Az reports, citing the explosive new report, this left Israeli forces with only three other locations where they could carry out his elimination: Russia, Türkiye, and Iran. All countries were places Haniyeh was frequently visiting but Tehran was ultimately chosen. 

Israel's initial plan was to eliminate Haniyeh when he was invited as an honorary guest to the funeral of former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash on May 19 when he was en-route to Tehran following his visit from Azerbaijan. However, the operation was postponed over concerns about potential civilian casualties.

Israel waited over two months until Haniyeh returned to Tehran for the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Massoud Pezeshkian. Haniyeh was being accompanied by personal security provided by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps operatives while in the country. The decision was made to delay the operation until after the ceremony, purportedly to avoid further embarrassing Tehran.

The investigative report revealed that the assassination almost failed at the last moment due to a broken air conditioner in Haniyeh's hotel room. The Hamas leader stepped out the room to request repair works and was gone for so long that Israeli forces feared he might be moved by hotel staff to another room. The air conditioner was eventually fixed leading to Haniyeh returning to his room, where an explosive device planted in his room detonated around 1:30 a.m local time.

Caliber.Az recalls, that Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz recently confirmed Israel's involvement in Haniyeh's assassination for the first time while speaking at a commemoration event for security officers. Katz issued a stark warning to the Iran-backed Houthi movement in Yemen, following their continued attacks on Israel by listing their accomplishments in the fight against Hamas. During that speech, he surprisingly included Haniyeh in the list of Hamas leaders known to have been killed by Israel, including the group's Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar who orchestrated the October 7 massacre in Israel, as well as Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

By Nazrin Sadigova