On July 31, 2024, Top Hamas Terrorist Leader Ismail Haniyeh Killed in Tehran.
The claim was that Israel targeted the guest apartment in which Haniyeh was staying with a long range missile fired from outside Iran’s borders. That never made a lot of sense. While Israel does have very precise missiles and stealth aircraft from which to fire them, it seemed implausible that the missile could travel hundreds of miles without being seen or heard and then strike a specific apartment. Not impossible, but strange if true.
There have been other rumors circulating on social media that it was a missile but fired from closer range.
The NY Times has just published an analysis and reporting, including by Ronen Bergman, an expert and well regarded author of a book about the Israeli intelligence services assassination efforts, .
So when Ronen Bergman writes on this topic, it’s worth taking seriously.
From the NY Times “scoop” today:
Ismail Haniyeh, a top leader of Hamas, was assassinated on Wednesday by an explosive device covertly smuggled into the Tehran guesthouse where he was staying, according to seven Middle Eastern officials, including two Iranians, and an American official.The bomb had been hidden approximately two months ago in the guesthouse, according to five of the Middle Eastern officials. The guesthouse is run and protected by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and is part of a large compound, known as Neshat, in an upscale neighborhood of northern Tehran.Mr. Haniyeh was in Iran’s capital for the presidential inauguration. The bomb was detonated remotely, the five officials said, once it was confirmed that he was inside his room at the guesthouse. The blast also killed a bodyguard.The explosion shook the building, shattered some windows and caused the partial collapse of an exterior wall, according to the two Iranian officials, members of the Revolutionary Guards briefed on the incident. Such damage was also evident in a photograph of the building shared with The New York Times….Such a breach, three Iranian officials said, was a catastrophic failure of intelligence and security for Iran and a tremendous embarrassment for the Guards, which uses the compound for retreats, secret meetings and housing prominent guests like Mr. Haniyeh.How the bomb was stashed in the guesthouse remained unclear. The Middle Eastern officials said that the planning for the assassination took months and required extensive surveillance of the compound. The two Iranian officials who described the nature of the assassination said they did not know how or when the explosives were planted in the room….It appeared to do minimal damage beyond the building itself, as a missile probably would have done.
This is very believable. It reflects how deeply Israeli intelligence services have penetrated Iran, operating in the past to remove Iran’s secret nuclear files from a heavily guarded warehouse, and assassinating leading Iranian scientists working on the nuclear program.
That deep penetration may come in handy if, as Iran has threatened, it retaliates for Haniyeh’s assassination.
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