Israel reportedly waited until after the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, to carry out the assassination of former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, in order to avoid disrupting the inauguration events, according to Channel 12. The network shared what it claims are new details about the complex operation, and Defense Minister Yisroel Katz confirmed last week that Israel was responsible for the attack.
Haniyeh was killed by a remote-controlled bomb in his guest house during a visit to Tehran for the inauguration in July. According to the heavily censored report, the operation, which had been planned for months, nearly failed at the final moment when the air conditioning unit in Haniyeh’s room malfunctioned in the middle of the night.
After the AC broke down, Haniyeh left the room for a considerable period, which raised concerns that he might have moved to another room for the night. If that had happened, it would have inadvertently prevented his death, as the small bomb required Haniyeh to be in the room when it detonated.
The staff was able to repair the air conditioning unit, and Haniyeh returned to his room. The bomb was then detonated around 1:30 a.m. Following his death, Haniyeh was succeeded by Yahya Sinwar as Hamas’s political leader. Sinwar, previously the group’s military chief, had a brief tenure, as he was killed in Rafah, southern Gaza, in October.
{Matzav.com Israel}