Iran claims Israel's admission of assassinating former Hamas leader Haniyeh justifies its October missile attack, escalating diplomatic tensions after Katz's recent statements.

Israel Katz, speaking at event honoring security officers, says Iranian-backed Houthi group in Yemen will be decapitated, 'just as [Israel] did to Haniyeh, Sinwar, and Nasrallah' The post Defense minister confirms Israel was behind July killing of Hamas leader Haniyeh appeared first on The Times of Israel.

Hassan Nasrallah meanwhile was the leader of the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah - he was assassinated in Beirut in September as Israel dramatically escalated its military campaign against Hezbollah, with which it had been trading near daily cross-border fire since the day after the 7 October attacks.

Since launching its retaliatory war in Gaza, Israel claims to have eliminated the leaders of militant groups including, Sinwar, the mastermind of the 7 October attack on Israel, and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an airstrike on a building complex in Beirut.

Former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an explosion in a high-security guesthouse in Iran’s capital Tehran in July

In the months that followed, Israel directly attacked Iran, assassinated Nasrallah and invaded southern Lebanon. In November it agreed to a US-backed ceasefire in Lebanon that enshrined its right to unilaterally enforce any alleged violations by Hezbollah.

Ismail Haniyeh led Gaza ceasefire talks when an explosive device planted by Israeli operatives weeks earlier killed him.

Tehran's UN envoy says Jerusalem's 'audacious and shameless confession' of 'heinous' assassination of terror chief affirms legitimacy of its barrage on the country The post After Israel confirms killing Haniyeh,

Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed that Israel is responsible for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. This marks the first public admission of this attack. Defense Minister Israel Katz publicly admitted for the first time that Israel is responsible for the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh,