The IRGC guesthouse (allegedly) where Ismail Haniyeh was killed on July 31.
Haniyeh’s assassination: New details arise
Hebrew Channel 12 published new details of the “Israeli” clandestine operation to assassinate the head of Hamas’ Political Bureau Ismail Haniyeh in an explosive device planted under his bed in his room in Tehran on July 31.
Before carrying out the operation, the report said the “Israeli” decision to kill Haniyeh came after Hamas’ “Operation Aqsa Typhoon” on Oct. 7. Senior intelligence officials wrote up a list of Hamas officials to assassinate, with Haniyeh among them.
“Israeli” intelligence then listed Qatar, Turkey, Russia, and Iran as possible places to carry out the operation. However, due to fears of breaking down prisoner negotiation by assassinating Haniyeh in Qatar, and to not anger Russia and Turkey, it was then decided to kill him in Tehran.
Haniyeh frequented a guesthouse for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), at a luxurious neighbourhood in north Tehran.
He was guarded by top security team of the IRGC, which required either Iranian citizens, IRGC members, or Hamas officials to be involved in placing the explosive device under Haniyeh’s bed – an operation which was deemed too complex to be solely carried out by “Israeli” agents, according to security analysts who spoke to Channel 12.
Haniyeh was assassinated on July 31, one day after the inauguration of Iran’s new President Masoud Pezeshkian.
The initial plan was to kill him at the funeral of former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash on May 19.
“Israel” then delayed the operation until after Pezeshkian’ inauguration, to avoid further embarrassment to Iran – according to the report.
The night of Pezeshkian’ inauguration, agents placed an explosive device under Haniyeh’s bed in his room, with enough material to kill Haniyeh on the spot.
After Haniyeh came back to his room after the inauguration ceremony, the air conditioning unit broke down, which prompted the former Hamas leader to leave to ask for assistance.
The AC was later fixed and Haniyeh came back; after “Israeli” officials feared that this may have compromised the operation.
“He was gone for so long that Israel feared that Haniyeh was being moved to a different room, which would have scuttled the entire operation,” a source privy to the matter told Channel 12.
At 1:30 AM, the explosive device detonated, killing Haniyeh immediately, and blowing a hole through the outer wall of his room.
Medics then arrived at the scene and declared Haniyeh’s death immediately.
The report claimed that Haniyeh’s deputy, Khalil Al-Hayya, arrived at room and collapsed to his knees in tears after seeing his comrade’s bloody body.
Hours after the assassination, the head of the IRGC’s elite Quds Force Esmail Qaani called Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and informed him that Haniyeh was killed in an “Israeli” missile attack, information which Iran would later realize was false.
Khamenei then personally ordered Iran to retaliate against “Israel”, which would later happen in a massive missile and drone attack on October 1.
Afterwards, Qaani went dark for several weeks scrambling to cover up the intelligence failure and to assess how exposed Iran’s leadership to “Israeli” intelligence.
At the time, reports circulated that Qaani may have been eliminated by Iran’s top leadership, due to his security failures or possible collaboration with “Israeli” intelligence.
Haniyeh was preceded by Yahya Sinwar as the head of Hamas’ political bureau, who was later martyred in clashes with “Israeli” forces in Rafah on Oct. 16.
