Israel admits for first time assassinating Hamas leader in Iran, warns Houthis

According to The Guardian, on December 23, the head of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, Mr. Israel Katz, took responsibility for the assassination of the Hamas leader; at the same time, he warned that the Israeli Army would also destroy the leaders of the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

“I want to send a message to the Houthis who are firing missiles at Israel. We have defeated Hamas, Hezbollah, bypassed Iran’s defenses, toppled the Assad regime in Syria. We have dealt a devastating blow to the axis of evil and will do the same to the Houthis in Yemen,” Katz said.

“We will strike hard at the Houthis and eliminate their leaders – just as we did to Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar and Hassan Nasrallah in Tehran, Gaza and Lebanon. We will act in Hodeihah and Sanaa,” he added.

Katz’s remarks, at a Defense Ministry event, marked the first public acknowledgement that Israel was behind the assassination of a Hamas leader in late July in the Iranian capital. Tel Aviv and Hamas had previously accused Israel of being behind the incident and vowed revenge. However, Tel Aviv did not confirm or deny the information at the time.

On the morning of December 24, the IDF said that sirens sounded in several areas of central Israel after a missile was launched from Yemen. The missile was intercepted before it reached Israeli territory. There were no reports of casualties.

Yemen’s Houthis have launched dozens of missiles and drones at Israel during the Gaza conflict. The Houthis say the attacks are in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza. On December 21, a rocket landed in Tel Aviv, injuring at least 16 people.

Israel has carried out three air strikes in Yemen during the war and has vowed to increase pressure on the rebel group until the missile attacks stop.

Former leader Haniyeh, known for leading Hamas's efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza, traveled to Iran for the inauguration of new President Masoud Pezeshkian and stayed at a guesthouse on the outskirts of the capital Tehran.

Iran said the assassins fired a short-range projectile weighing about 7 kg into Mr. Haniyeh's room, while Western media suggested that the Hamas leader's residence was bombed.

A senior Hamas official described Mr Haniyeh’s assassination at the time as a “cowardly act that will not go unpunished”. Qatari and Egyptian mediators warned that the move would delay talks on a ceasefire and a deal to free hostages held in Gaza.

On September 27, Israel also assassinated Mr. Nasrallah - the supreme leader of Hezbollah in a bomb attack in Beirut. Then Mr. Haniyeh's successor, Mr. Sinwar, was also killed on October 16 in Gaza. Israeli officials believe Mr. Sinwar was the mastermind of Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, the attack that sparked the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.