Hamas denies Israeli claims about Haniyeh’s assassination by ‘precision bomb’

ISTANBUL

Palestinian resistance group Hamas has denied Israeli claims about assassinating its former political chief Ismail Haniyeh with a “precision bomb.”

Haniyeh was assassinated in July in Tehran as he was attending the inauguration of Iran’s new President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Israeli Channel 12 said that the assassination was carried out by a "precision bomb" placed inside Haniyeh's room and controlled remotely.

Hamas called the Israeli claims part of “a series of lies broadcast by the Israeli occupation.”

It said that investigations conducted by the group and Iranian security agencies concluded that Haniyeh was assassinated “by a guided missile weighing 7.5 kilograms of explosives, which directly targeted his mobile phone."

Hamas called the Israeli claims “a desperate attempt to divert attention from the complex crime that took place by violating Iran’s sovereignty with a missile targeting one of its official sites."

On Dec. 23, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz admitted that Israel was behind Haniyeh’s assassination.

Israel has continued a genocidal war on Gaza that has killed over 45,500 people, most of them women and children, since a Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023.

Last month, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel is also facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi