Israel on Tuesday acknowledged that it killed former Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Iran’s capital, Tehran, and warned to “decapitate” the leadership of Houthi rebels in Yemen.
“We will strike hard at the Huthis… and decapitate their leadership — just as we did with Haniyeh, (Yahya) Sinwar, and (Hassan) Nasrallah in Tehran, Gaza, and Lebanon, we will do so in Hodeida and Sanaa,” news agency AFP quoted Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz as saying.
“Anyone who raises a hand against Israel will have his hand cut off, and the long arm of the IDF (Israeli military) will strike him and hold him accountable,” Katz added.
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Israel’s formal acknowledgement comes almost five months after Haniyeh’s killing on July 31 this year. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has never admitted to killing the former Hamas chief. Still, the militant group and its main backer, Iran, have been blaming Israel for a string of assassinations that eliminated the top leadership of Hamas.
How was Ismail Haniyeh killed?
Haniyeh was killed in an explosion in a guesthouse in Tehran on July 31. Israeli operatives had reportedly placed the device weeks before Haniyeh’s arrival to attend the inauguration of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had claimed that Haniyeh was killed using a “short-range projectile” launched from outside of his accommodation. Tehran also accused the United States of backing Israel’s operation.
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Haniyeh’s killing had escalated fears of an all-out war between Iran and Israel in the region, prompting the US to deploy additional fighter jets and Navy warships following threats from Tehran and its allies, Hamas and Hezbollah.
The 62-year-old was the head of the political bureau of Hamas, which has governed the Gaza Strip since 2007.
Haniyeh, who lived in Qatar, was killed shortly after top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr was killed in an Israeli air strike in Beirut.
The former Hamas chief was seen as leading the group’s negotiation to enforce a ceasefire in Gaza. Israel accused Sinwar of masterminding the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel, which sparked the ongoing war in which Israel has been accused of committing a “genocide” against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
