Israel's defense minister on Monday publicly admitted for the first time that the Jewish state assassinated Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31, 2024.
While Israel's role was already widely understood, its disclosure likely signals Israel is less concerned about provoking an Iranian response after the Islamic Republic and its allies in the region have been dealt harsh Israeli military blows in recent weeks.
"These days, when the Houthi terrorist organization is firing missiles at Israel, I want to convey a clear message to them at the beginning of my remarks: We have defeated Hamas, we have defeated Hezbollah, we have blinded Iran's defense systems and damaged the production systems, we have toppled the Assad regime in Syria, we have dealt a severe blow to the axis of evil, and we will also deal a severe blow to the Houthi terrorist organization in Yemen, which remains the last to stand," Israel Katz said during an evening honoring defense ministry personnel.
"We'll severely cripple the Houthis, damage their strategic infrastructure, and we will behead their leaders – just as we did to Haniyeh, Sinwar and Nasrallah in Tehran, Gaza and Lebanon – we will do it in Hodeidah and Sana'a," Katz added.
Haniyeh was a Palestinian politician who served as prime minister of the Palestinian National Authority for over eight years until 2014 and as chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau from May 2017 until his assassination in Tehran.
He had been attending the inauguration of newly elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian when he was assassinated. At the time, Hamas said they were convinced Haniyeh was killed, along with one of his bodyguards, by an Israeli airstrike on his residence.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which was responsible for protecting Haniyeh, said in early August that Haniyeh was assassinated with a "short-range projectile with a warhead of approximately 7 kilograms".
"This action was designed and implemented by the Zionist regime and supported by the criminal government of America," the IRGC added.
Western media reports suggested that Haniyeh was killed by explosive devices planted well in advance in his room, possibly by agents recruited by Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency. A report by The Telegraph says the devices were placed in three separate rooms of the guesthouse, pointing to a meticulously planned operation.
The assassination was carried out despite heightened security measures due to the inauguration which took place one day earlier, underscoring a severe breach in Iran's security apparatus.
A report by the New York Times said at the time that over two dozen individuals, including senior intelligence officers, military officials, and staff at the guesthouse, had been detained in connection with the incident.
Haniyeh's assassination was soon followed by a series of Israeli attacks killing other leaders of Iran-backed groups including Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on September 27 and Haniyeh's successor Yahya Sinwar on October 16.