Israel's plan to assassinate Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh on July 31, 2024 was almost foiled when an air-conditioning unit in his room was broken, reports Israeli media.
Haniyeh left his room to seek help in fixing the AC but when he did not return for a long time, Israel feared that the Hamas chief was being moved to another room, according to a Channel 12 report.
However, the staff at the guest house of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps managed to fix the AC, following which Haniyeh was back in the room. The IED detonated around 1.30 am on July 31, killing Haniyeh. Though the IRGC medical team arrived immediately, he was declared dead on the spot.
Haniyeh used to stay regularly in the same guest house of the IRGC located in the posh Sa'adat Abad area in Tehran, making it easier for Israel to carry out its assassination plot.
Haniyeh's security detail included top IRGC security team, which meant that Israel had to infiltrate deep into the agency.
This revelation comes after Defence Minister Israel Katz confirmed that Tel Aviv was behind the plot to kill the former Hamas secretary general.
The report said Haniyeh was among the top targets in a list compiled by the Israeli senior intelligence officials. However, since Haniyeh lived in Qatar, Israel decided not to target him in order to avoid risking hostage negotiations mediated by Doha.
Israel allegedly had plans to assassinate Haniyeh in Russia, Turkey and Iran, where the Hamas chief used to frequent. However, Tel Aviv did not want to anger either Vladimir Putin or Recep Tayyipe Erdogan.
Earlier, Israel attempted to assassinate Haniyeh during the funeral of former Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash on May 19, 2024. But media reports said the plot was abandoned due to fear of large civilian casualties.
The next opportunity came when the new President, Masoud Pezeshkian, was taking oath. Israel agents reportedly planted an improvised explosive device(IED) in Haniyeh's room a little before Pezeshkian's inauguration ceremony.
Iranian authorities as well as analysts believe that Israel could not have carried out the operation without the help of Iranian citizens, IRGC staff or Hamas operatives.
