'Will behead Houthis, just like Ismail Haniyeh': Israel takes responsibility for Hamas leader's killing

In a first, Israel's defense minister Israel Katz confirmed that Israel had assassinated Hamas' top leader Ismail Haniyeh last summer and is threatening to take similar action against the leadership of the Houthi rebel group in Yemen.

In his speech on Monday, Katz emphasised that the Houthis, part of an Iranian-backed alliance in the region, would face the same fate as Haniyeh. He further mentioned that Israel had previously targeted other Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, assisted in the overthrow of Syria's Bashar Assad, and destroyed Iran's anti-aircraft systems.

In a speech on Monday, Katz said, “We will strike (the Houthis') strategic infrastructure and cut off the head of the leadership. Just like we did to Haniyeh, Sinwar and Nasrallah in Tehran, Gaza and Lebanon, we will do in Hodeida and Sanaa.”

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran after attending the swearing-in ceremony of the country's new president, Masoud Pezeshkian. Iran’s Islamic Paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had confirmed in a statement early on July 31 that Haniyeh, along with his bodyguard, was killed after his residence in Tehran was “hit.”

There was no direct claim of responsibility by Israel for the killing of Haniyeh at the time.

Haniyeh, normally based in Qatar, had been the face of Hamas' international diplomacy amid the ongoing war that began with the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7. He had been involved in indirect talks aimed at securing a ceasefire in Gaza. Months later, Israeli forces in Gaza killed Yahya Sinwar, Haniyeh's successor and the mastermind behind the October 7 attack, which sparked the latest wave of violence in the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Meanwhile, the Iranian-backed Houthis have launched scores of missiles and drones at Israel throughout the war, including a missile that landed in Tel Aviv on Saturday and wounded at least 16 people. Israel has carried out three sets of airstrikes in Yemen during the war and vowed to step up the pressure on the rebel group until the missile attacks stop.

(With inputs from Reuters, AP)