Israel has acknowledged its responsibility for the assassination of a Hamas leader in Tehran.

In his address, the current head of Israel's Ministry of Defense emphasized: "In these days, when the terrorist organization Houthis is launching rockets at Israel, I would like to send them a clear message: We have defeated Hamas, we have defeated Hezbollah, we have blinded Iran's defense system and damaged its production capabilities, we have overthrown Assad's regime in Syria, we have dealt a serious blow to the axis of evil. And we will also deliver a heavy blow to the Houthi terrorists in Yemen, who remain the last bastion of resistance."

Israel will incapacitate their strategic infrastructure, we will decapitate their command, just as we did with Haniya, Sinwar, and Nasrallah in Tehran, Gaza, and Lebanon. We will do this in Hodeidah and Sana’a, stated Katz while speaking at an event honoring the military personnel of the Ministry of Defense.

The Iran-backed group in Yemen has been attacking commercial vessels in the Red Sea for over two years, attempting to strengthen the maritime blockade of Israel. They claim to act in solidarity with the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Gaza, which has been ongoing since October 7, 2023.

At the end of July, the political leader of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas was killed in Tehran as a result of an attack, for which Iranian authorities blamed Israel. Meanwhile, as noted by Reuters, the Israelis have not claimed responsibility for the assassination of Haniya.

Haniya's permanent residence was in Qatar, where the Hamas leader represented himself as the face of Palestinian diplomacy. Haniya was also involved in international efforts to organize indirect negotiations for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, writes Reuters.