An explosive device hidden in a heavily guarded complex where Ismail Haniyeh was known to stay in Iran was what killed him, according to a Times investigation.
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 assassination threatened to unleash another wave of violence in the Middle East and upend the ongoing negotiations to end the war in Gaza. Mr. Haniyeh had been a top negotiator in the cease-fire talks.
The other Palestinian negotiators might just possibly take Israel blowing up the guy they’re talking to as a sign that Israel is not negotiating in altogether good faith.
Well they’re not negotiating with people who aren’t terrorists…I don’t think you understand what negotiations are or why they’re necessary.
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If you’re taking the side of the Palestinians, you’re a terrorist
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We will not negotiate with terrorists
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kills all the negotiators
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Palestinians refuse to accept our peace deals. This just proves they’re all terrorists.
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Netanyahu really doesn’t want these negotiations to come through, does he? How can he go to the hostage families and tell them he’s gonna get their relatives back when he bombs the shit out of the country they’re hidden in, has blown up and wanted to funnel sea water into the tunnels where they are most likely held (from an outsiders perspective) and now basically shot someone in the face across the negotiating table?
Tell me how that makes sense.
He wants the Palestinians “gone” - he doesn’t care about anything else, certainly not the hostages. In fact having hostages allows him to “keep going”.
TBH don’t know which one would have been more embarressing for the Iranians. That the air defenses would have let an airstrike in Tehran or that they let the Israelis plant a bomb in a secured compound. Honestly I think this is worse for them.
embarressing for the Iranians
Hosting a diplomat and working to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza is embarrassing.
Spending months, thousands of man-hours, and a fortune in high tech military equipment to kill the lead negotiator in a peace deal is uber cool and mega elite, just like in a video game, pew pew.
Nah, this is definitely worse. As much as they try Iranians are never going to have anything that resembles western technology, they will definitely have to pay the price for that if/when they try anything. This kinda internal betrayal though, this reveals them as the clowns they are selling out one of their most important allies to their nemesis.
I saw a military pundit say the opposite: this is planted by Iran for 2 reasons:
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create paranoia to help crack down on society (e.g. “suspicious maids”)
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dismiss the idea that Israel is able to find out where and when to hit a target to the minute with extreme precision (through a window, which would look like a bomb exploded from the inside instead of just a maid planting a bomb) and possibly taking an f35-style stealth aircraft into Iranian airspace close to Tehran undetected.
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That’s some Hitman shit right there.
Certainly better than blowing up 100 innocent people to kill one guy who might not have been there anyway.
Certainly better than blowing up 100 innocent people
He was the lead diplomat negotiating a ceasefire in Gaza. They killed him in order to continue massacring innocent people.
Fantastic. Fuck that guy. How many millions of Palestinians did he condemn to die with no hope or prosperity? Not any more.
How many millions of Palestinians did he condemn to die with no hope or prosperity?
He was the lead negotiator working towards a ceasefire. Netanyahu killed him to scuttle further talks.
