When I first read that Hamas' top political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in Tehran last night, my first thought was that a Mossad assassination team had snuck in, done some dirty work that needed doing, and then snuck back out. But no — it was so much better than that.
Israeli Air Force (IAF) fighters snuck into Iran's airspace undetected and expertly fired what must have been a small-diameter smart bomb or precision right into Haniyeh's guest residence in Tehran, killing just him and his bodyguard.
I doubt Haniyeh even had enough warning to wake up in time to hear his impending death. Tehran promises revenge, yadda yadda yadda, but can't even defend its own capital.
Jerusalem remains mum about the whole thing, naturally, but I imagine they went in with a flight of two F-35I Adir stealth fighters to get in close with another pair of F-15I Ra'ams nearby for backup. Or maybe Israeli jamming pods are so good that stealth fighters weren't needed, and it was just the longer-ranged F-15Is that reached out and touched someone last night.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “This is something we were not aware of or involved in," which is maybe the most obvious thing anybody never needed to say. Presidentish Joe Biden's State Department would have leaked like a two-year-old on Red Bull and Gatorade if they'd had known anything in advance.
Earlier today I admitted that "I clap and cheer every time I read that Israel has killed another Hezbollah leader or destroyed another Hamas unit," and here I am clapping and cheering again already.
The AP breathlessly warned that the assassination "could prompt Hamas to pull out of negotiations for a cease-fire and hostage release deal in the 10-month-old war in Gaza, which U.S. mediators had said were making progress."
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Remember when we didn't negotiate with terrorists? Yeah, that was awesome.
Haniyeh was reportedly worth over three billion dollars, skimmed as Hamas does, from international aid meant for the Arabs of the Gaza Strip. With any luck, Jerusalem is ready to put laser dots on the foreheads of any and all Hamas-qualified candidates for his inheritance.
The real message wasn't meant for Hamas. The IDF and/or Mossad is going to kill every single Hamas they're able to target — and they're working very hard to target them all.
No, the message was sent to every mullah of any importance in the Iranian government and every high-ranking member of Iran's terrorist Revolutionary Guards force. The message is: don't sleep in the same place twice.
And... well... that didn't take long:
JUST IN 🚨
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) July 31, 2024
An assassination in Damascus resulted in the death of Hajj Habib Zadeh, a leader of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. @nourabohsn
When Donald Trump was president and Iran was broke due to his crippling sanctions, Iran wasn't at war with Israel. Presidentish Joe Biden undid the sanctions and delivered billions to Tehran's doorstep, and now Israel is fighting (somewhat) traditional military campaigns, along with operational-level assassinations of the men doing Tehran's evil bidding.
Peace-through-strength is back on the ballot this November. Vote accordingly.
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