How do Hamas and Iran explain Haniyeh's death? - report

Following the assassination of former Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, there have been differing reports by Hamas and Iran regarding how he was killed, according to a Saturday report by the Arabic news outlet Al-Araby.

The overall verdict was that Haniyeh was killed by an explosive device that was secretly smuggled into his guesthouse in Tehran and not by an airstrike, The New York Times reported, and The Jerusalem Post independently confirmed.

However, among Arab media, there have been differing speculations about the method behind his death. 

According to Iran's Fars News Agency, managed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, it was reported on Wednesday that "something" targeted the residence without specifying its nature.

Khaled Qaddoumi, Hamas's representative in Tehran, said that the assassination occurred through the targeting of Haniyeh's room with an "aerial projectile," citing the explosion's impact on the room.

In an interview with Al-Araby on Friday, Qaddoumi recounted that after attending the inauguration ceremony of Iran's new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, Haniyeh returned to his residence in northern Tehran, which "was not secret and was known to many people, reserved for senior guests."

Experiencing the explosion 

 "At exactly 1:37 a.m., the building experienced a shock," Qaddoumi continued.  "I left the place I was in and saw thick smoke. Later, we learned that Haj Abu al-Abd [Haniyeh] had been martyred."

"The shock was so intense that I thought it was thunder or an earthquake. I opened the window but saw no rain or thunder. The weather was hot. We went to the fourth floor where the martyr was and found that the wall and ceiling of the room had collapsed and been destroyed," he continued. 

"The appearance of the place after the attack and the condition of the martyred leader Ismail Haniyeh's body clearly indicate that the targeting was by an aerial projectile, whether a missile or a shell." Qaddoumi refrained from providing more details, saying, "Specialized technical teams from our brothers in the Islamic Republic are conducting investigations and will announce the results later."

Qaddoumi's remarks were consistent with what Khalil al-Hayya, senior head of Hamas in Gaza, stated in a press conference on Wednesday, hours after Haniyeh's assassination. He said that a missile "directly hit the room where Haniyeh was staying, and we await the official investigations."

Following the release of the New York Times report last week, Fars News Agency published a report confirming that the assassination was carried out via a bomb.  The agency, citing initial investigations, indicated that Haniyeh was on the fourth floor of the building in Zafaraniyeh, northern Tehran, asserting that "the Zionist entity planned and executed this terrorist act," promising further details if necessary.

The Al-Araby report concluded that "In the absence of a comprehensive official narrative, the execution of Ismail Haniyeh's assassination remains mysterious, despite the known identity of the perpetrators."