Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz acknowledged on Monday that Israel had killed former Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran earlier this year, warning that the military would "behead" the leadership of Yemen's Houthi rebels, also linked to Iran.
Israel has so far not admitted that it killed Haniyeh, although Iran has blamed it for the killing of the political leader of the Palestinian movement Hamas, which the US and the EU consider a terrorist organization.
"We will strike hard at the Houthis ... and decapitate their leadership - just as we did with Haniyeh, (Yahya) Sinwar and (Hassan) Nasrallah in Tehran, Gaza and Lebanon, we will do it in Hodeidah and Sana'a," he said. Kac.
Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have been attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea for more than a year to try to enforce a naval blockade of Israel, saying they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Katz added that "anyone who raises a hand against Israel will have his hand cut off, and the long arm of the IDF (Israeli army) will strike him and call him to account," Israel's Ministry of Defense said.
Haniyeh, who was believed to have negotiated a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip on behalf of Hamas, was killed on July 31 in a Tehran guesthouse, allegedly by an improvised explosive device planted by Israeli operatives a few weeks earlier.
A day earlier, Haniyeh attended the inauguration of Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkiyan.
Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a bombing in Beirut on September 27, followed by the killing of Hani's successor Yahya Sinwar on October 16 in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli officials say Sinwar masterminded the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel that sparked the war in the Gaza Strip.
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