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Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated by a missile, a Hamas spokesman and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Saturday, rejecting reports that an explosive had been planted in the room he was staying in.
The Hamas leader was killed in an attack on a guesthouse in Tehran on Wednesday, which also killed his bodyguard Wasim Abu Shaban. They were in the Iranian capital for the inauguration ceremony of President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Iran, Jordan, Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas and others have blamed Israel for the killings. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement.
Hamas's spokesman in Iran, Khalid Al Qadoumi, said he was in the building on the night of the attack.
“It was clear to me that the attack was carried out with a missile. However, an Iranian technical team is conducting an investigation,” he told Al Arabi Al Jadid newspaper and was quoted by the Iranian news agency, Mehr.
“The building shook at 1.37 in the morning, and I immediately left the room and saw thick smoke. After that, I found out that Abul Abd [Mr Haniyeh] was killed.”
Mr Al Qadoumi thought an earthquake or a thunderstorm had taken place.
“We went to the fourth floor which was Mr Haniyeh's room. I saw that the wall and ceiling of the room collapsed,” he said.
Following the inauguration of Mr Pezeshkian, Mr Haniyeh went to his residence in northern Tehran, said Mr Al Qadoumi.
“It was not a secret and was known to many people where he was and was the guesthouse was reserved for important people coming to the country,” he said.
The IRGC said on Saturday that Mr Haniyeh was killed by a short-range missile.
“A short-range projectile with a warhead of about 7kg [was] followed by a severe explosion from outside his room,” the IRGC said in a statement quoted by Iran's news agency, Irna.
The assassination had been “planned and carried out by the Zionist regime” and supported by the “criminal government of the US”, it added.
Iran's response will be “severe and at the appropriate time, place and manner”.
Security lapse
The statements from the IRGC and Hamas official come after The New York Times reported that Mr Haniyeh had been killed by an explosive device that had been smuggled into the guesthouse.
The newspaper quoted seven anonymous Middle Eastern officials, and claimed that the bomb had been hidden in the guesthouse about two months before Mr Haniyeh was killed.
The guesthouse, which is in the area of Neshat, was protected by the IRGC. The assassination of a high-profile figure in a supposedly secure compound is likely to be seen as an embarrassing lapse of security.
Mr Al Qadoumi rejected The New York Times report.
“The facts on the ground are in conflict with the narratives of the New York Times and the spokesperson of the Israeli army. This was done so that Israel does not face the consequences of this crime,” Mr Al Qadoumi said.
“Israel was the mastermind and executive director of the operation which carried it out with the consent of the Americans.”
Hours after the killing of Mr Haniyah, Khalil Al Hayya, deputy head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, held a press conference on Wednesday and said that a “missile directly hit the room where the Hamas chief was staying”.
Mr Haniyeh was buried on Friday in Doha, where hundreds of mourners performed funeral prayers over the caskets, which were covered in the Palestinian flag.
Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim and his father Sheikh Hamad, former emir of Qatar, were among the attendees. Top Hamas official Khaled Meshaal, Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also attended.
Strikes on Hamas and Hezbollah
The killing of Mr Haniyeh is the latest suspected assassination carried out by Israel, which has vowed to eliminate Hamas.
On Thursday, Israel claimed it had killed another Hamas leader, Mohammed Deif, in a strike on a civilian camp in Gaza earlier in July.
About 90 people, the majority civilians, were killed in the strike on Al Mawasi, which is a designated safe zone for civilians near Khan Younis.
On Saturday, Israel killed a senior Hamas commander in the occupied West Bank.
Haitham Balidi, who was reportedly the head of the Qassam Brigades in Tulkarem, was killed in an Israeli drone strike on a car in the area, Palestinian media reported.
Four other men were killed in the strike, news agency Wafa said.
Israel has also recently carried out attacks on members of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese militia allied to Hamas. Hours before Mr Haniyeh was assassinated, an Israeli strike killed Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukr in Beirut.
On Saturday, the Israeli military said it had killed another prominent Hezbollah member.
The army's announcement came amid reports of an Israeli drone strike on a car near Tyre, in southern Lebanon.
In a statement on the Telegram messenger app, Hezbollah announced the death of one of its commanders, Ali Nazih Abd Ali, but did not give details as to how and where he was killed.
Regional tension
The killings have again raised fears of a regional war breaking out.
Hezbollah is expected to extend its reach “deeper inside Israel” and will no longer be confined to military targets after the killing of Mr Shukr, Iran's mission to the UN said on Saturday.
“We expect … Hezbollah to choose more targets and [strike] deeper in its response,” said the mission, quoted by the official Iranian news agency, Irna.
The US embassy in Israel issued a security alert on Friday urging Americans to exercise caution and “increased personal security awareness” amid rising regional tension.
“Security incidents, including mortar and rocket fire and unmanned aircraft system intrusions, often take place without any warning,” it said.
Washington also announced it is sending a fighter jet squadron to the Middle East and has ordered additional ballistic missile defence-capable cruisers and destroyers to the region, as tension threatens to boil over.
Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin “has ordered adjustments to US military posture designed to improve US force protection, to increase support for the defence of Israel, and to ensure the United States is prepared to respond to various contingencies”, the Pentagon said in a statement.
The US Navy will maintain an aircraft carrier in the region, the Pentagon said, and is sending the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group, which is currently stationed in the region.
