Top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and his bodyguard were killed in an attack which the Palestinian group blamed on Israel. Though Haniyeh was walking like a dead man after the Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7 last year, his killing in Tehran is significant. It is not only a big blow to Hamas but also a major loss for Iran, the arch enemy of the Jewish state.
Ismail Haniya lived in Doha, the capital of Qatar. Arab country Provides funds to Hamas and shelters Hamas political leadersQatar uses these ties and its oil wealth to exert disproportionate weight in global geopolitics.
Haniyeh was assassinated while he was visiting Tehran. He has come to Iran for the swearing-in ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. He is believed to have also met Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday.
Iran and Israel are bitter enemies. Israel has sought to prevent the Shia Islamic country from acquiring nuclear weapons by disrupting its nuclear program, while Iran funds groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah to harm the Jewish state.
“Killing a top Hamas political leader in a strike inside Iran is a major achievement. It will be a major blow not only to Hamas but also to its main sponsor, Iran,” Bobby Ghosh, a senior editor at Bloomberg, told CNN.
“Hania’s killing on Iranian soil is a great shame for Iran,” Bobby Ghosh said.
He described it as a “loss of prestige” for Iran.
Iran has gotten the message, as was evident from the emergency meeting of its Supreme National Security Council called at Khamenei’s residence. US media quoted two Iranian officials as saying such meetings only take place in exceptional circumstances.
Haniyeh in Israeli crosshairs since October 7
Haniyeh, who briefly served as prime minister of the Palestinian Authority in 2006, was one of Hamas’ top political leaders. Along with other military leaders such as Yahya Sinwar, Israel blamed Haniyeh for the October 7 attack in which Hamas militants massacred more than 1,000 Israelis and took dozens of others hostage.
Although Israel has not taken responsibility for the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, most fingers point towards it.
A statement by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards blamed Israel for the attack and said Haniyeh was assassinated in “a treacherous Zionist attack on his residence in Tehran”.
Israel had announced All political and military leaders of Hamas were targeted Since the October 7 attacks.
He is after Ismail Haniyeh and members of his family, whom he alleges are part of the Hamas brotherhood.
Exactly one month after the October 7 attacks, Israel targeted Haniyeh’s residence in Gaza City. Three sons killed in Israeli air strike In June, 10 members of Haniyeh’s family were killed in another airstrike on the Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza.
How did Israel kill Iranian nuclear scientists?
Israel and America have blamed Shia Iran for this. running a secret nuclear program Whose goal is to acquire nuclear weapons.
In the 10 years between 2010 and 2020, five top scientists associated with Iran’s nuclear program were assassinated.
Many times they were shot by gunmen on motorcycles or killed by bomb blasts from a distance.
Israel was reported to have halted the assassination campaign in 2013 under US pressure. However, it resumed it a few years later.
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said in an interview with Germany’s Der Spiegel daily in 2015 that Israel could resume killing Iranian nuclear scientists if Iran continues its nuclear weapons program.
In 2020, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a top Iranian military nuclear scientist, was assassinated Remote controlled machine gun while traveling in a car Outside Tehran.
Iran has arrested dozens of people whom the Shiite regime believes are assassins working for Israeli spy agency Mossad.
Why is Haniyeh’s assassination a loss of prestige for Iran?
The killing of Ismail Haniyeh shows that Israel has the capability to strike wherever and whenever it wants.
When Israel saw that all this was happening it did not show any immediate reaction. Massive attack by Iran using 300 drones and missiles The attack was the first direct attack against Israel from Iranian soil.
The attack occurred after an incident in which Two Iranian military commanders and another general killed Killed in a suspected Israeli attack in Damascus on 1 April.
On April 19, Israel attacked an S-300 missile defense system near Isfahan, Iran. The attack demonstrated Israel’s ability to strike deep inside Iran, increasing the risk of hitting Iran’s nuclear and military facilities while evading detection and air defenses.
The killing of Ismail Haniyeh would be seen as a loss of prestige for Iran, as it failed to protect its property. Hamas receives funding from Iran And in this case Tehran failed to provide security to the leader who was attending an official function.
Experts believe that the attack in Tehran will be responded to by Iran soon.
“Iran could launch a missile attack against Israel and try to attack its air defense system, as we saw a few months ago. It could also launch terrorist attacks against Israeli installations, not just in the Middle East but anywhere in the world,” retired US Air Force Col. Cedric Leighton told CNN.
Colonel Leighton said a cyber attack from Iran is also a possibility.
Bobby Ghosh of Bloomberg told CNN he believed the strike was spectacular and symbolic.
“It is a great shame for Iran that this happened on Iranian soil. The assassination of a state guest on home soil by an arch enemy is a huge blow to its prestige,” Ghosh said.
“Israel has the capability to strike inside Iran. But it has usually attacked smaller targets. This is the most senior person to have been killed in this way inside Iran. This is a major blow to Hamas,” Ghosh said.
Whatever the Iranian counter-attack, Israel has made a resounding statement by killing Ismail Haniya, a guest who was in Tehran attending an official function.