A private Israeli broadcaster, in an investigative report aired late on Saturday, revealed new information about the assassination of the late Ismail Haniyeh, former head of Hamas' political bureau, following the government's lifting of censorship on the case, claiming a bomb was planted in his room.
Haniyeh was killed inside his residence during a visit to Tehran, Iran’s capital, on July 31.
The assassination was carried out with a "precision bomb" placed inside Haniyeh's room and controlled remotely, Channel 12 said in the report.
The device was planted after the inauguration ceremony of Iran's new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, it added.
Meticulous surveillance
According to the media outlet investigation, preparations for the operation included meticulous surveillance of Haniyeh's movements to ensure that he remained in a specific room on multiple occasions.
The operation faced a major challenge when the air conditioning in Haniyeh's room malfunctioned, raising the possibility that he would be moved to another location.
However, a maintenance team resolved the issue, allowing the plan to proceed, the report claimed.
Channel 12 reported that planning the operation took months, with unnamed sources describing the mission as "one of the most complex and sensitive operations" and claiming Haniyeh was playing a key role in planning attacks on Israel.
Genocidal war on Gaza
On December 23, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz admitted Israel's responsibility for Haniyeh's assassination.
Katz's admission of Haniyeh's assassination, according to Israeli media outlets such as Yedioth Ahronoth and Channel 12, marks the first public acknowledgment of the operation by a senior Israeli official.
Israel has continued a genocidal war on Gaza that has killed nearly 45,500 people, most of them women and children, since an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on October 7, 2023.
Last month, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel is also facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.
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