Report: The Mossad's impressive operation to eliminate Haniyeh in Iran

A report published in The Jewish Chronicle, a Jewish newspaper based in London, U.K., revealed new details about the elimination of Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the political bureau of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, in Tehran, Iran.

The report by Elon Perry, a former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) fighter based in London, indicated that while British newspaper The Telegraph had reported that the explosive that killed Haniyeh had been planted weeks earlier, in reality, the device was placed under the terrorist leader's bed at 4:23 p.m. local time and detonated from a distance at 1:37 a.m.

According to Perry, the detonation was carried out after five agents ascertained that it was Haniyeh who had entered the room.

The journalist stressed that the Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service that operates worldwide except in Israel and Palestinian-controlled territories, made sure that the explosive used affected only Haniyeh's room and was placed in such a way that it would not harm innocent civilians. Therefore, only a specific area of the building was damaged.

Perry noted that the agents were identified on security cameras and carried out the complex operation in exchange for a six-figure dollar sum for each and an immediate transfer to a northern European country.

The Israeli journalist added that both agents quietly left the room where they placed the device and left the compound in a black car, while the guard who opened the door for them did not ask them any questions.

Perry also mentioned that to eliminate Haniyeh, Israel used a network of Mossad spies scattered around Tehran, including local Iranian collaborators who had been active in the Islamic Republic long before the war in Gaza. He added that the Israeli intelligence service had long wanted to eliminate Haniyeh, and when it was confirmed that the Hamas leader was to attend the inauguration of new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Israel decided to execute the plan.

The difficulties of the operation

As part of the preparation for the operation, Perry continued, the Mossad sent agents to the area of the Revolutionary Guard Corps. compound to gather information about movements at the site, security measures and possible escape routes.

However, the operation was not without difficulty. In fact, as the area was surrounded by a forest, the agents found it inconvenient to carry out surveillance tasks, so five of them dressed in green clothes to camouflage themselves and climbed into the tops of some trees near the building to inform the Mossad when Haniyeh arrived at the building, as they had knowledge of the color and license plate number of the vehicle in which he was traveling.

Perry indicated that other Mossad agents, who were also dressed in green, climbed the trees to observe from an angle that would allow them to see Haniyeh's bedroom window in order to warn the person in charge of detonating the explosive as soon as they saw the light go out in the terrorist leader's room.

Haniyeh died on the spot

At 1:20 a.m., all the guests returned to the compound, and Haniyeh entered the room after saying goodbye to the others, Perry recounted. He added that his bodyguard Wasim Abu Shaaban stood by the door. Ten minutes later, the light in the room went out, at which point the explosive went off. Haniyeh died on the spot, and his bodyguard died shortly thereafter.

Perry remarked that the Mossad knew that Abu Shaaban had participated in an attack in which five Israeli soldiers were killed during Operation Operation Protective Edge, the war conflict between Israel and Palestinian terrorist organizations in Gaza in July 2014.

Iran tries to avoid humiliation

After The New York Times published the first report mentioning that Haniyeh was killed by an explosive placed in his room, Iran denied that the operation had been carried out in that way and accused Israel of killing the terrorist leader with a missile launched at the building he was in.