Report: Senior Pentagon, military officials ‘stunned’ by Haniyeh elimination

(i24) Official sources in the US government said they were not notified in advance about the plan to kill senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, according to a report Thursday in the New York Times.

Haniyeh was killed while staying at a guest house owned by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Tehran, during a visit to the country to attend President Masoud Pezeshkian’s inauguration.

Senior Pentagon and military officials were “astonished” by the assassination, especially by the decision to carry it out in the Iranian capital, a move that makes it difficult for Iran not to respond, according to the sources. However, a senior US military officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic matters, said that although Iran must be stunned by the extraordinary security blow, it might also be wary of engaging in full-scale war with Israel.

Israel publicly took responsibility for the attack in Beirut a day before, which killed top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr. Officials have not, however, confirmed involvement in Haniyeh’s elimination, although US sources privately admitted that it was carried out by Israel.