An unverified image of the building where Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed on July 31, 2024 (Social media, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed this week by a sophisticated, remote-controlled bomb that was smuggled into the Tehran guesthouse he was staying in, not a missile as has been widely reported, according to the New York Times.
According to the report, which cites seven Middle Eastern officials, including two Iranians, and a US official, the explosive device was covertly smuggled into the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps building in Tehran about two months ago.
The Iranian officials, who are members of the IRGC, say the precision of the hit was reminiscent of the remote-operated machine gun that a Mossad team used to kill top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in 2020.
There has been no official comment from Israel on Haniyeh’s assassination, though it has been widely attributed to Jerusalem.
The Times report cites five Middle Eastern officials saying that “Israeli intelligence officials briefed the United States and other Western governments on the details of the operation in the immediate aftermath.”
Moreover, it says, “several US officials who requested anonymity” have reached the “assessment” that Israel was responsible for the assassination.
Haniyeh had arrived in Tehran on Tuesday to attend the inauguration of Iran’s new President Masoud Pezeshkian. The officials quoted by the Times say the bomb that killed Haniyeh and his bodyguard was detonated remotely.
The report notes that the guesthouse is used for retreats, secret meetings, and “housing prominent guests” such as Haniyeh.
The officials cited by the Times note that while the explosion shattered windows and collapsed a portion of the wall of the compound, there was minimal damage to the building itself, indicating that it was unlikely to have been a missile strike.
Israel had vowed to kill Haniyeh and other leaders of Hamas after the Gaza-based terror group’s devastating October 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entr...-not-a-missile/