Haniyeh killed by short-range missile fired from inside Iranian territory – report

Vital information regarding the Hamas chief’s whereabouts was reportedly supplied by one of his bodyguards.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

The missile that hit the residence where Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh was staying in Tehran, killing him, was a short-range one fired from inside the country, Sky News Arabia reported Wednesday.

Basing its report on Iranian sources, the media outlet said that a Spike missile was fired from a building close by.

The Spike family of missiles are produced by Israeli elite defense company Rafael. The shortest-range types have an effective range between 200 meters to 5.5 kilometers, so the one allegedly involved did not necessarily have to be fired so near the residence.

They contain high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warheads, which would seemingly accord with the picture of the blackened exterior area of the targeted corner room where the terrorist leader was sleeping.

Other ground-based Spikes have a range of up to 32 km, which would still mean that they had to be launched from within Iran.

Their technology is such that they do not need to be in line of sight of their targets.

Some media are citing “unconfirmed reports” that the airborne projectile was a quadcopter, which actually would have to be launched from just a short distance from Haniyeh’s residence.

It is unclear whether these kinds of small drones would be able to carry enough explosives to do the damage seen on photos of the attack site.

The Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese Al-Mayadeen TV channel cited an Iranian source saying that the weapon was launched from over the border.

Tehran has so far not ruled out any possibility, including long-range missiles, as authorities immediately launched an intensive investigation to find out how their defenses were breached.

The theory that it was at least in part an “inside job” has already been reported in Iranian media, which said that one of Haniyeh’s personal bodyguards leaked vital information that enabled the targeted killing.

It was such a precise operation that another high-value terrorist, Palestinian Islamic Jihad chief Ziyad al-Nakhalah, was left untouched although he was in the same building, on a different floor.

Iranian officials told The New York Times that the senior echelon in the country were in “utter shock” over the successful assassination.

The funeral for the Hamas leader took place Thursday morning in Tehran. Supreme Leader Sayyed Ali Khamenei led the prayers for the thousands of attendees.

President Masoud Pezeshkian whose inauguration was the reason for Haniyeh’s presence in Tehran, was right beside him.

On Friday, Haniyeh will be buried in the Qatari capital of Doha, where he had lived in luxurious conditions for many years while in “exile” from the Gaza Strip.

Israel has not officially claimed responsibility for the assassination, although it was immediately blamed by Iran, Hamas, and their supporters, and Iran has vowed to avenge their honored guest’s death.