In a major revelation in the assassination case of Ismail Haniyeh, a top leader of Hamas, a media report claimed that Israel had planted the bomb into the Tehran guesthouse where he was staying around two months ago. Notably, Haniyeh was assassinated, along with one of his bodyguards, in an attack on a guesthouse in Iran's capital Tehran on Wednesday. According to a report by the New York Times, he was assassinated by an explosive device covertly smuggled into the Tehran guesthouse where he was staying.
The report claimed that the explosives had been hidden approximately two months ago in the guesthouse despite the fact the building is run and protected by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Although much details about his travel were not revealed, it was reported that the top Iranian leader was in Tehran for the Presidential inauguration.
"The bomb was detonated remotely, 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," NYT quoted two Iranian officials, members of the Revolutionary Guards briefed on the incident.
As per the report, Haniyeh had stayed several times at the same guesthouse where he was killed on July 31.
Iran's Parliament speaker blames the US in speech at Hamas leader Haniyeh's funeral
In his speech at Haniyeh's funeral ceremony in Tehran, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said that such attacks are carried out under the United States' guidance and coordination, “and nothing happens without the coordination and support of criminal America.”
State TV broadcast Qalibaf's speech live as he insisted that the US had a role in Haniyeh's assassination, and accused Washington of lying that it had not been informed of any plans for the attack.
Thousands of people in Tehran attended the Haniyeh's funeral, waving Iranian, Palestinian, and Hezbollah flags. State TV showed people on the street mostly wearing black dresses representing sadness, in temperatures already reaching 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 degrees Fahrenheit) at 11 am
local time. A giant mist sprayer was deployed to make the hot temperature cooler for the people. The coffins could be seen being placed in a truck and moved on the street toward Azadi, “Freedom” in Farsi, Square in Tehran, with people throwing flowers at them.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said on Thursday that it has confirmed that the head of Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif, was killed in an airstrike in Gaza in July. Israel targeted Deif in a July 13 strike that hit a compound on the outskirts of the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, but the military said for weeks it was working to determine if he died in the blast.
However, Hamas has denied he was killed. More than 90 other people, including displaced civilians in nearby tents, were killed in the strike, Gaza health officials said at the time.
In a statement Thursday, the Israeli military said that “following an intelligence assessment, it can be confirmed that Mohammed Deif was eliminated in the strike. There was no immediate comment from Hamas.
(With agencies inputs)
