{"id":6313,"date":"2024-08-04T03:08:25","date_gmt":"2024-08-04T03:08:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=6313"},"modified":"2024-08-04T03:08:27","modified_gmt":"2024-08-04T03:08:27","slug":"something-came-from-the-outside-an-eyewitness-account-of-the-aftermath-of-ismail-haniyehs-assassination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=6313","title":{"rendered":"Something came from the outside&#8221;: An Eyewitness Account of the Aftermath of Ismail Haniyeh\u2019s Assassination"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/app-link\/post?publication_id=2510348&amp;post_id=147310242&amp;utm_source=post-email-title&amp;utm_campaign=email-post-title&amp;isFreemail=true&amp;r=1srvlq&amp;token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoxMDg3OTYwOTQsInBvc3RfaWQiOjE0NzMxMDI0MiwiaWF0IjoxNzIyNzEwNjc4LCJleHAiOjE3MjUzMDI2NzgsImlzcyI6InB1Yi0yNTEwMzQ4Iiwic3ViIjoicG9zdC1yZWFjdGlvbiJ9.4BdtU2VJ64wO7hASdkv4n_zlPJifAnBVhbugxQpyEO8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&#8220;<\/a>Iran and Hamas are challenging the story put forth by the New York Times of a planted bomb.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/redirect\/66f0aa29-e6ca-4c2c-81ee-fb5995f9226d?j=eyJ1IjoiMXNydmxxIn0.t-yRg9tr8ULyYQ9jr9MuMxaZMYeDriFWCIWjdjLTSKQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a>Iranian Leader Ali Khamenei attends the funeral prayer of the Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh. Photo: Handout from Iranian Leader Press Office\u201cThe only thing that came into my mind is that Israel has killed our leader,\u201d said Khaled Qaddoumi, Hamas\u2019s representative in Iran, who was sleeping in an apartment two floors below the group\u2019s political leader Ismail Haniyeh when an explosion rocked the building. \u201cWhether it was with the American tools, whether it was through the Americans, what came into my mind directly is that the Israeli enemy has killed our leader.\u201dToday, Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guard Corps directly accused Israel of assassinating Haniyeh in Tehran early Wednesday morning by firing a \u201cshort-range projectile with a warhead weighing about 7 kilograms\u201d from outside the apartment complex. While Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) did not offer any forensic evidence to back its allegations, the statement served as a direct challenge to an article\u00a0published in the New York Times\u00a0Friday asserting that Haniyeh was killed by a bomb covertly planted in the residence months ago.<br>From what Qaddoumi saw, it appeared a projectile had blown a hole in the side of the building directly in the apartment where Haniyeh was staying. In an interview with Drop Site News, Qaddoumi, who is also a member of Hamas\u2019s Office of Political Relations in the Arab and Islamic World, said he met with Haniyeh in the residence in northern Tehran following a state dinner for the newly inaugurated Iranian president. Qaddoumi did not attend the dinner but was waiting at the apartment complex, situated in a compound operated and guarded by the IRGC, for him to return. Haniyeh, he said, arrived at the building at around 11:30 p.m., at which point Qaddoumi and others gathered with the Hamas leader to discuss the recent Israeli attack in a southern district of Beirut that killed senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr.\u00a0After an hour or so, \u201che left to his bedroom on the fourth floor of the building. And I went to my place, which was on the second floor,\u201d Qaddoumi recalled.\u00a0He went to sleep and was awoken by the building shaking around him. \u201cAt around 1:37 a.m., I felt a shock to the building. And that gave me a very strange feeling.\u201d He thought it was, \u201cmaybe an earthquake,\u201d but \u201cwith more scale.\u201d\u00a0\u201cI went out to check. I found smoke coming towards me everywhere. The washroom of my suite was destroyed, and <a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/redirect\/2\/eyJlIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZHJvcHNpdGVuZXdzLmNvbS9zdWJzY3JpYmU_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.73hTChFnjfG07sGN58BB0Ng_0jVdH6JZutlm7awJ-hA?&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=subscribe-widget&amp;utm_content=147310242\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the ceiling was destroyed. And then I went out. My friends told me what had<\/a> happened. Then I rushed towards the room of Ismail,\u201d he said. \u201cI entered into the [suite] and I found a room where the two walls at the outer side of the building had been destroyed. The ceiling of that room was also destroyed. So it gave me a [sense] that something came from outside, [fired] into the room.\u201dQaddoumi said he saw Haniyeh\u2019s body and, in an adjacent room, his bodyguard, who was also killed. After that, he and other Palestinian officials in Tehran were briefed by Iranian counterparts. \u201cInitially, everybody, according to the evaluation from the field, they were agreeing that something has attacked the building from outside. And then with the passage of time and checking the technical processes, [the IRGC] have released this statement.\u201dA planted bomb would indicate deep infiltration of Israeli spies. A projectile fired from outside the military compound also indicates a major security failure.How Haniyeh was killed\u2014whether it was with a short-range projectile or a planted bomb\u2014could have significant implications, particularly for Iran\u2019s internal response. Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, was reportedly woken up in the middle of the night of the attack to be briefed. He has vowed Iran will retaliate against Israel. A planted bomb would indicate deep infiltration of Israeli spies, with the ability to operate within a housing complex controlled and guarded by the most elite military and intelligence forces in Iran. A projectile fired from outside the military compound also indicates a major security failure. The planners of this operation wanted to send a message that Iran is no longer safe for enemies of Israel.The New York Times said the bomb was smuggled into the guest residence where Haniyeh has stayed on previous visits to the Iranian capital and remotely detonated shortly after 1:30 a.m. local time.\u00a0Qaddoumi told me that while Haniyeh has stayed in the complex on previous visits to Tehran, the Hamas leader did not always stay in that specific suite. \u201cIt depends on the guest list,\u201d he said.The Times story was sourced to \u201cseven Middle Eastern officials, including two Iranians, and an American official.\u201d The report did not indicate how many of the \u201cMiddle Eastern\u201d officials were Israelis. The lead byline on the story was Ronen Bergman, an Israeli journalist with close ties to Israeli intelligence who wrote a book,\u00a0<em>Rise and Kill First<\/em>, about the history of Israeli assassination operations. The Times report, citing three anonymous \u201cIranian officials,\u201d said the attack represented \u201ca catastrophic failure of intelligence and security for Iran and a tremendous embarrassment for the Guards, which uses the compound for retreats, secret meetings and housing prominent guests like Mr. Haniyeh.\u201dThis version of events reads like a tale lifted from the popular Israeli espionage drama, \u201cTehran,\u201d about a covert Israeli agent operating in the Iranian capital on a mission to destroy a nuclear reactor\u2014and that framing may be intentional, according to Qaddoumi.\u00a0\u201cIsrael wants to create, through the propaganda, [the impression] that there was some security [breakdown] to create chaos within the Iranians themselves,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is the habit of the Israelis and the American agencies. They are very good in scenario building and they are very good in making stories and good scenarios for a cheap, maybe Bollywood movie.\u201dIsrael has indeed been engaged in a longtime propaganda effort aimed at sowing paranoia within the Iranian government that Mossad and other Israeli intelligence agencies can covertly and lethally operate at will within Iran. Israel is widely believed to be behind the assassinations of several nuclear scientists in Iran, five of whom were killed between 2010 and 2020.<a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/redirect\/2\/eyJlIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZHJvcHNpdGVuZXdzLmNvbS9zdWJzY3JpYmU_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.73hTChFnjfG07sGN58BB0Ng_0jVdH6JZutlm7awJ-hA?&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=subscribe-widget&amp;utm_content=147310242\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> <\/a><span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">Whether<\/span> the IRGC\u2019s conclusions or those published in the New York Times about how Haniyeh was killed are accurate, the killing of Hamas\u2019s top political official and its lead negotiator for a Gaza ceasefire on Iranian soil sent shockwaves throughout the chambers of power in Tehran.\u00a0In the aftermath of Haniyeh\u2019s killing, Iran<a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/redirect\/cacbb301-474d-4492-a49a-a5c32dde92de?j=eyJ1IjoiMXNydmxxIn0.t-yRg9tr8ULyYQ9jr9MuMxaZMYeDriFWCIWjdjLTSKQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u00a0reportedly<\/a>\u00a0carried out a series of arrests and interrogations of senior intelligence and military officials. The investigation is being led by IRGC\u2019s special unit on counterintelligence and espionage. Iran has vowed to respond to the killing of Haniyeh in an apartment housed within a complex controlled by the IRGC that was reportedly equipped with radar equipment, air defense systems, and surveillance cameras.On Friday, President Joe Biden spoke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and \u201creaffirmed his commitment to Israel\u2019s security against all threats from Iran, including its proxy terrorist groups Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis,\u201d according to a White House\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/redirect\/f5b89b35-47f4-49d8-8f40-05f64aeae63e?j=eyJ1IjoiMXNydmxxIn0.t-yRg9tr8ULyYQ9jr9MuMxaZMYeDriFWCIWjdjLTSKQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">readout of the call<\/a>. \u201cThe President discussed efforts to support Israel\u2019s defense against threats, including against ballistic missiles and drones, to include new defensive U.S. military deployments.\u201dDefense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln, destroyer vessels, and an additional squadron of combat aircraft to the region to support Israel in the event of an Iranian military response. These deployments join an array of sea, land, and air assets the U.S. has positioned in the region over the past several months in the name of confronting Iran, Iraq, Yemen, and other forces from the Axis of Resistance.Qaddoumi added that he does not believe Israel acted unilaterally and, as Hamas\u2019s official representative in Iran, he joined Tehran in accusing the U.S. of involvement. \u201cIsrael could not do such adventures without the blessing and the green light from America,\u201d he charged. \u201cAmerica is backing and facilitating the Israeli genocide in Gaza. And that is what&#8217;s happening in the assassination operations.\u201dThe IRGC also said the Israelis killed Haniyeh, who was in Iran to attend the inauguration of the country\u2019s new president, with the support of the U.S. government. Senior Biden administration officials have said the U.S. had no advanced knowledge of the hit on Haniyeh and have stated the U.S. was not involved in the operation.\u00a0The U.S. maintains that it does not want a wider war in the region and insists it is working tirelessly to achieve a Gaza ceasefire. An Israeli official\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/redirect\/e0d25d5e-cee1-47e0-b818-15e816b53131?j=eyJ1IjoiMXNydmxxIn0.t-yRg9tr8ULyYQ9jr9MuMxaZMYeDriFWCIWjdjLTSKQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">claimed<\/a>\u00a0Biden told Netanyahu on their most recent call that he wants a ceasefire \u201cwithin a week to two weeks.\u201d Biden told reporters that Haniyeh\u2019s assassination \u201cdoesn\u2019t help\u201d the situation. Yet for all of its claims, the Biden administration has focused its public pressure firmly on Iran, the Palestinian factions fighting the Israeli genocide in Gaza, and Hezbollah in Lebanon while offering \u201cironclad\u201d support for Israel.\u201c40,000 Palestinians have been killed. One of them is Ismail Haniyeh.\u201d\u201cThe so-called retaliation process from the American side is an act of war. They are starting the war,\u201d said Qaddoumi. \u201cUnfortunately, we are not facing a country or facing a state. We are facing gangsters, who have a cartel mentality, to kill and to win always. That is not negotiation.\u201dQaddoumi said that Haniyeh\u2019s assassination would not push Hamas to surrender. \u201cIf you continue using the gun, if you continue using the blood-shedding language, you will never get a flower for an answer. You will receive an answer of blood because the blood will drag another blood-shedding,\u201d he said. \u201cIt&#8217;s not because Ismail Haniyeh was killed. It&#8217;s that 40,000 Palestinians have been killed. One of them is Ismail Haniyeh. Among them, 70% are children and women. So you cannot expect that we will surrender with these things.\u201d<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Source:- <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropsitenews.com\/p\/haniyeh-eyewitness-assassination-projectile-bomb?utm_source=post-email-title&amp;publication_id=2510348&amp;post_id=147310242&amp;utm_campaign=email-post-title&amp;isFreemail=true&amp;r=1srvlq&amp;triedRedirect=true&amp;utm_medium=email\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.dropsitenews.com\/p\/haniyeh-eyewitness-assassination-projectile-bomb?utm_source=post-email-title&amp;publication_id=2510348&amp;post_id=147310242&amp;utm_campaign=email-post-title&amp;isFreemail=true&amp;r=1srvlq&amp;triedRedirect=true&amp;utm_medium=email<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Iran and Hamas are challenging the story put forth by the New York Times of a planted bomb.\u00a0Iranian Leader Ali Khamenei attends the funeral prayer of the Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh. Photo: Handout from Iranian Leader Press Office\u201cThe only thing that came into my mind is that Israel has killed our leader,\u201d said Khaled [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6314,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[2195,893,105,299,2193,52,51],"class_list":["post-6313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sample-category","tag-assasination-of-hamas-leader","tag-gaza","tag-geopolitics-2","tag-iran","tag-ismail-hania","tag-israel","tag-palestine"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6313"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6313\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6315,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6313\/revisions\/6315"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}