An explosive device was smuggled into the Tehran site two months in advance, sources told the New York Times
The assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh was carried out with an explosive device planted in a Tehran guesthouse where he was staying, the New York Times reported Thursday, citing Middle Eastern officials.
Haniyeh, the head of the Gaza-based militant group’s political bureau, was killed in the Iranian capital on Wednesday. Both Iran and Hamas blamed Israel for the attack, with the latter claiming Haniyeh was killed in a missile strike. West Jerusalem has neither confirmed nor denied involvement.
The senior Hamas official was killed with a remotely detonated bomb smuggled into the guest house, the Times said after speaking to seven officials in the Middle East on condition of anonymity, including two Iranians and an American official.
The building is part of a larger, secure compound in the Iranian capital, managed and guarded by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The explosive device was placed and hidden in the building about two months ago, the Times reported, citing five sources. The bomb exploded in Haniyeh’s room, blowing out some windows and partially collapsing an exterior wall, the newspaper said, citing two IRGC officials.
Tehran and Hamas have accused West Jerusalem of carrying out the assassination. Although the Jewish state has not publicly acknowledged this, “Israeli intelligence agents briefed the United States and other Western governments on the details of the operation.” immediately after the incident, five sources told the NYT.
David Barnea, head of Israel’s foreign intelligence agency Mossad, has vowed to eliminate anyone involved in planning or participating in Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7. The militant group killed about 1,200 Israelis and took more than 250 hostages that day.
The subsequent Israel-Hamas war saw rising tensions in the wider Middle East. Iran and Israel exchanged direct fire earlier this year after Israel attacked an Iranian Embassy compound in Syria.
Tensions have risen following the assassination of a top Hamas official in the heart of Tehran. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the IRGC have publicly condemned the killing and vowed retaliation.
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