The Israeli Defense Minister claims responsibility for the assassination of Haniyeh, a leader of the Hamas movement

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Monday acknowledged for the first time publicly that Israel killed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran in July, raising the risk of tensions between Tehran and arch-enemy Israel in a region rocked by Israel’s war in Gaza and conflict in Lebanon.

He said that Israel defeated Hamas and Hezbollah, “blinded” Iran’s defense systems and damaged its production systems. He added that his country overthrew the Assad regime in Syria, dealing a strong blow to what he called the “axis of evil.”

He added: “We will also deal a severe blow to the Houthi terrorist organization in Yemen, which is still the last one standing.”

Katz said during a tribute evening that Israel “will destroy their strategic infrastructure and we will behead their leaders – just as we did with Haniyeh, Sinwar and Nasrallah in Tehran, Gaza and Lebanon – we will do it in Hodeidah and Sanaa.” Employees of the Ministry of Defense.

The Iran-backed group in Yemen has been attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea for more than a year in an attempt to impose a naval blockade on Israel, saying it is acting in solidarity with the Palestinians in Israel’s year-long war in Gaza.

In late July, the political leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas was killed in Tehran in an assassination that Iranian authorities blamed on Israel. Israel did not directly claim responsibility for Haniyeh’s killing at the time.

Haniyeh, who usually resides in Qatar, was the face of Hamas’ international diplomacy with the outbreak of the war, which was sparked by the movement’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, in Gaza. He was participating in indirect talks with international mediation to reach a ceasefire in the Palestinian Strip.

Months later, Israeli forces in Gaza killed Yahya Sinwar, Haniyeh’s successor and the mastermind of the October 7 attack.

Earlier this month, Syrian rebels overthrew the Assad regime. Israeli forces moved into part of Syrian territory that was supposed to be a demilitarized zone last week, sparking accusations that the country is exploiting chaos in the region to seize territory.