A bomb under the bed and an escape plan: minute by minute, this was the elimination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran

The Jewish Chronicle, a London-based weekly, revealed details of the plan to take down one of the ideologues of the October 7 attack

The assassination of the Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, held in Tehran last week, has been attributed to Israel, although it has not yet been officially confirmed by the Israeli government. While the terrorist organization has already chosen its new political leader, the Israeli media The Jewish Chronicle has revealed unpublished details about the operation.

The newspaper reported that the explosive device was placed under Haniyeh's bed by two Iranians recruited by the Mossad who belonged to the Ansar al-Mahdi security unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), whose function was precisely to protect the building and its guests.

On the day of the attack, security cameras captured guards moving stealthily down the hallway toward Haniyeh's room. Three minutes after entering, the guards calmly exited, left the building and drove away in a black car. An hour later, they were flown out of Iran by Mossad. The precision and thoroughness of this operation underline its complexity and coordination.

Contrary to initial reports that suggested the device was placed weeks or months earlier, security footage shows it was installed on the same day as the explosion, at 4:23 p.m., some nine hours before being remotely activated when Haniyeh entered. in his room after midnight. The explosion occurred at exactly 01:37 a.m. local time, and the bomb, a precision device designed to minimize collateral damage, destroyed only Haniyeh's room.

The bomb, a precision device designed to minimize collateral damage, destroyed only Haniyeh's room (The New York Times)

In his article in The Jewish Chronicle, Elon Perry highlighted that Haniyeh's assassination was decided after the events of October 7 and required a complex network of Mossad spies distributed throughout Tehran, including Iranian collaborators active in Iran long before the assassination. war in Gaza. Intelligence accumulated by Israel over the past 20 years about Iran's efforts to develop nuclear weapons was key to the success of the operation.

The opportunity for the attack arose when Haniyeh was invited to Tehran for the inauguration of the new Iranian president. Mossad, with the assistance of the Israeli army's 8200 intelligence unit, intercepted phone calls between event organizers and guests. Once Haniyeh's arrival was confirmed, the execution of the plan began.

Mossad agents regularly visited the area to provide operational logistics and map every street and alley, identify possible escape routes and verify the building's security measures. The building, located on a hill and surrounded by tall trees, made it difficult to see clearly from the outside, prompting some of the five officers to dress in green and climb trees to get a clear view. His job was to report as soon as Haniyeh arrived at the building.

A second Mossad squad, also disguised in green, was in charge of monitoring the window of Haniyeh's room from a strategic angle. At 01:20 am all the guests arrived and Haniyeh entered his room after saying goodbye to the others. His bodyguard stood outside the door. After ten minutes, the light went out in the room, at which point the bomb operator activated the explosion, instantly killing Haniyeh and seriously injuring his bodyguard, Wasim Abu Shaaban, who later died.

Following the assassination, Iranian authorities searched the entire complex and arrested 28 military officers and headquarters staff present at the scene, confiscating their electronic devices to track their communications. Iranian outrage was not limited to the death of a senior Hamas official, but also to the fact that members of the IRGC were involved.

Elon Perry, who was a commando soldier in the elite Golani brigade of the Israel Defense Forces, also clarified that Israel had had multiple opportunities to eliminate Haniyeh in Qatar, but avoided doing so so as not to harm hostage negotiations between Hamas and Israel, which Qatar mediated.

The meticulous planning and execution of Haniyeh's assassination underscores Mossad's operational capabilities and the sophistication of its covert actions in hostile territory, as detailed by the JC.

Source: INFOBAE