Israel’s defence minister has confirmed that the IDF assassinated former Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran earlier this year, and warned that the military would also “decapitate” the leadership of Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
“We will strike hard at the Houthis … and decapitate their leadership – just as we did with Haniyeh, [Yahya] Sinwar, and [Hassan] Nasrallah in Tehran, Gaza, and Lebanon, we will do so in Hodeida and Sanaa,” Israel Katz said on Monday.
His remarks, at an event at the defence ministry, mark the first public acknowledgement that Israel was behind the killing in late July of Haniyeh in the Iranian capital. Israel was widely believed to be behind the blast and leaders have previously hinted at its involvement. Iran and Hamas had blamed it for the Hamas political leader’s death.
“Anyone who raises a hand against Israel will have his hand cut off, and the long arm of the IDF [Israeli military] will strike him and hold him accountable,” Katz said, according to a statement issued by the ministry.
Early on Tuesday, the IDF said in a statement that sirens sounded in several areas of central Israel following the launch of a projectile from Yemen. The missile was intercepted before crossing into Israeli territory, it added. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen have launched scores of missiles and drones at Israel throughout the war in Gaza, describing the attacks as acts of solidarity with Palestinians there. On Saturday, a missile landed in Tel Aviv and wounded at least 16 people.
Israel has carried out three sets of airstrikes in Yemen during the war and vowed to step up the pressure on the rebel group until the missile attacks stop.
Haniyeh, who was seen as leading Hamas’s negotiation efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza, was killed in a guesthouse in Tehran on 31 July, reportedly by an explosive device that had been placed by Israeli operatives weeks before.
A senior Hamas official described Haniyeh’s killing at the time as a “cowardly act that will not go unpunished”. Mediators Qatar and Egypt warned it would set back talks on a ceasefire and a deal to release hostages held in Gaza.
A day earlier, Haniyeh had attended the inauguration of Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian.
On 27 September, Israel killed Nasrallah in a Beirut bombing, which was followed by the killing of Haniyeh’s successor Sinwar on 16 October in Gaza. Israeli officials say Sinwar masterminded the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel, which sparked the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
With Agence France-Presse and Associated Press
