Following the investigation, the Revolutionary Guards indicated that “a short-range projectile fired “from outside” was responsible for the death of Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated by a “short-range projectile” fired at his residence in Tehran in an operation that Iran blames on Israel, the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic, announced on Saturday, August 3.
“According to the investigations and investigations, this terrorist operation was carried out by firing a short-range projectile with a warhead of approximately 7 kilograms from outside the guests’ accommodation (causing) a strong explosion,” they said in a statement published by the official Irna agency.
Israel was “supported by the United States” in this operation, the Guards added.
An “air projectile”
Ismail Haniyeh was killed Wednesday in a veterans’ residence in northern Tehran after attending the Iranian president’s inauguration ceremony. The Palestinian Islamist movement, Iran and its allies blamed the attack on Israel, which has not commented, and vowed to retaliate. The 61-year-old Hamas leader was killed by an “air projectile,” Iranian media reported.
Death of Hamas leader: what consequences for the conflict in the Middle East?
The New York Times, citing five Middle Eastern officials speaking on condition of anonymity, said Thursday that he was killed by a bomb planted about two months ago in the residence where he was staying, protected by the Revolutionary Guards, in northern Tehran.
Israel “will certainly receive the response to this crime at the appropriate time, place and manner,” the Guards said Saturday.
Ismail Haniyeh’s death came a day after an Israeli strike killed Hezbollah military leader Fuad Shoukr near Beirut. The two attacks have rekindled fears of a widening war between Israel and Iran and the groups it supports in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
As Iran and its allies prepare a response, the ultraconservative Kayhan daily said Saturday that they are expected to strike Tel Aviv and Haifa and target Israeli officials.
“Areas such as Tel Aviv and Haifa and strategic centers and especially the residence of some officials involved in recent crimes are among the targets” of reprisals, the newspaper wrote.