Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, was assassinated early Wednesday morning during a visit to Tehran.
There is heavy speculation that Israel carried out the strike, but this has yet to be confirmed.
The killing of Haniyeh comes just hours after Israel assassinated top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shakr in Beirut Tuesday night, and less than a week after Hezbollah killed 12 Israeli Druze children playing on a soccer field in Majdal Shams in a missile strike.
Shukr was considered to be the right-hand man to Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.
The two most senior members of the Hamas political bureau have now been eliminated since the Oct. 7 attack which saw approximately 3,000 Hamas terrorists and Palestinian civilians pour across Israel’s border and killed 1,200 Israelis and kidnapping 250 back to Gaza.
The fact that these two senior leaders were killed, allegedly by Israel, in Tehran and Beirut is highly significant and speaks volumes of the capabilities of whichever intelligence agencies were involved. The operational capabilities as well should not be overlooked.
The Iranian news agency Fars states that the assassination of Haniyeh was carried out around 2 AM as he slept in a building affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in northern Iran.
An unnamed Iranian source told the Lebanese Al-Mayadeen news channel that Haniyeh was killed by a missile launched from another country towards Haniyeh’s location.
But recent reports have stated that Haniyeh was actually killed by a bomb planted in the bedroom he frequented by agents two months prior to his visit. The bomb, remotely detonated, was said to have AI capabilities as well.
Haniyeh’s personal assistant, Wassim Abu Shaaban was also killed in the attack.
Haniyeh was in Tehran to attend the Tuesday swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian.
Other Hamas leaders as potential targets as well.
Khaled Mashaal, who previously served as the chairman of the political bureau of Hamas from 1996 to 2017, is now a senior political figure in Hamas and high up on Israel’s wanted list.
Mashaal previously survived an assassination attempt by Israel in 1997 in Jordan when a Mossad operation went wrong. Mashaal was poisoned and in a coma, but Israel was forced to provide an antidote, saving his life, and apologize to Jordan.
As part of the deal, Israel was forced to release Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the co-founder and spiritual leader of Hamas. Yassin was later assassinated by Israel in a missile strike in Gaza in 2004.
Hamas senior member Mousa Abu Marzouk is also a likely target.
Yahya Sinwar, the military leader of Hamas is known to be a major target for Israel. Sinwar is currently believed to be hiding in tunnels underneath Gaza together with Israeli hostages as human shields.
Hamas leader Salah Al-Arouri was assassinated in Lebanon on Jan. 2