Hamas has condemned the Israeli media’s ‘baseless lies’ after reports allege an Iranian collaborator helped assassinate the Palestinian groups political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
On December 23, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz admitted Israel’s responsibility for the assassination of the former head of Hamas’ political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh.
Katz’s admission of Haniyeh’s assassination marks the first public acknowledgment of the operation by a senior Israeli official.
Since then, the Israel regime government has lifted censorship regarding the case allowing Israel’s media to report, in detail, a timeline of the killing.
However, Israel’s version of events has been rubbished by Hamas themselves and a rival claim of how the assassination occurred has raised doubts about Israel’s claims.
Here are both accounts on how Ismail Haniyeh was killed by Israel in Tehran.
Israel’s story
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Haniyeh was killed inside his residence during a visit to Iran’s capital, on July 31.
In an investigative report aired late Saturday, a private Israeli broadcaster, Channel 12, revealed new information about the assassination of the late Ismail Haniyeh claiming a bomb was planted in his room.
The assassination was carried out with a “precision bomb” placed inside Haniyeh’s room and controlled remotely, Channel 12 said in the report.
According to the Israeli narrative, the device was planted after the inauguration ceremony of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, it added.
According to the media outlet’s investigation, preparations for the operation included meticulous surveillance of Haniyeh’s movements to ensure that he remained in a specific room on multiple occasions.
The operation faced a major challenge when the air conditioning in Haniyeh’s room malfunctioned, raising the possibility that he would be moved to another location.
However, a maintenance team resolved the issue, allowing the plan to proceed, the report claimed.
Channel 12 claimed that planning the operation took months, with unnamed sources describing the mission as “one of the most complex and sensitive operations.”
Hamas’ version
On Sunday, the Palestinian armed group rubbished the claims published in Israeli media regarding the killing of their former political chief, adding that the story was filled with “a bunch of lies.”
Hamas’ statement claimed that a joint investigation with Iranian security agencies had been conducted and that it revealed the assassination was carried out using a 7.5-kilogram guided missile that directly targeted Haniyeh via his mobile phone.
Explaining why the Israeli regime had made such a claim, the Hamas statement said the Israeli timeline was “merely a desperate attempt to divert attention from the complex crime that was committed by violating the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran with a missile that targeted one of the country’s official headquarters.”
The Palestinian leader Haniyeh was in Tehran at the time of his killing to attend the inauguration ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Pezeshkian had become President after the shock death of his predecessor, Ibrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash on May 19, 2024.
Israel also killed Haniyeh’s successor, Yahya Sinwar, during a battle in Gaza in October, however, Israel’s IDF admitted it didn’t know he was there at the time of his death.
Meaning Sinwar’s death, despite his close proximity to Tel Aviv, was by change rather then rigorous planning or deep intel.
Iranian failures
With the rival sides still unable to agree on how Israel conducted the assassination of Haniyeh, what remains true is that Israel was able to achieve its aim of killing the senior Hamas leader while he was on Iranian soil.
The killing was seen as a major failure by the Iranian authorities to protect a close ally, partner and guest from enemy attack.
In response to the killing, Iran vowed revenge saying a “harsh punishment” awaits Israel for conducting the assassination on their soil.
Iran’s leader, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei slammed Israel for the attack, saying: “the criminal and terrorist Zionist regime martyred our dear guest in our house and made us bereaved.”
Sayyed Khamenei added that Israel had also “prepared the ground for a harsh punishment for itself” but conducting the extrajudicial killing of Haniyeh.
However, with Iran and it’s ally Hezbollah in Lebanon climbing down from fighting Israel after the Lebanon ceasefire deal in November 2024, no retaliatory action for Haniyeh’s death seems likely to ever materialise.
Hamas is a political and armed group which has governed over the Gaza Strip since 2007. It is a designated group in many western countries including the UK.
