Jerusalem
Israel has admitted for the first time that it had organized the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniya in Tehran. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said this while warning the Houthi group at an event. “We will attack the Houthi group harshly, targeting their strategic infrastructure and beheading their leaders – just as we did to Haniya, Sinwar and Nasrallah in Tehran, Gaza and Lebanon,” Katz said.
The Houthi group carried out another drone attack on Monday. However, the Israeli military claimed that the drone was intercepted by its air defense systems. Since the Gaza conflict broke out, the Houthi group has been carrying out rocket-drone attacks on Israeli cities and targeting ‘Israeli-linked’ ships in the Red Sea.
Haniya was assassinated on July 31, allegedly using an explosive device in a guesthouse in Tehran. The explosive device was widely believed to have been planted by Israeli agents. At the time of his death, Haniya was leading ceasefire talks with Israel for Hamas. Iran and Hamas have been blaming Israel for Haniya’s murder.
Israel has previously claimed responsibility for the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar (Haniya’s successor) in southern Gaza and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut. Haniya’s successor, Sinwar, was killed by Israeli forces in an encounter in Gaza in October. Hamas is still in the process of choosing a new leader. Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, was killed in an Israeli air strike in September.
