Israel confesses of killing Hamas leader Haniyeh in Tehran

Israel’s defence minister, for the first time, acknowledged that Israel killed Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

The high profile Hamas leader was killed in a building where he was staying in the Iranian capital back in July, earlier this year.

Israel Katz made the comments in a speech vowing to target the heads of the Iran-backed Houthi movement in Yemen.

Separately, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said some progress had been made towards agreeing a ceasefire in Gaza with Hamas. However, a deal is yet to be signed.

In his speech, Katz said Israel would “strike hard” at the Houthis and “decapitate” its leadership.

“Just as we did with Haniyeh, [Yahya] Sinwar, and [Hassan] Nasrallah in Tehran, Gaza, and Lebanon, we will do so in Hodeida and Sanaa,” he said.

Haniyeh, 62, was widely considered Hamas’s overall leader and played a key role in negotiations aimed at reaching a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

After his assassination, Hamas named Yahya Sinwar, its leader in Gaza and one of the chief architects of the 7 October attacks, as the group’s overall leader.

Sinwar was killed by the Israeli military in a chance encounter in Gaza in October and the group is still in the process of choosing a new leader.