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Pentagon Officials Stunned by Targeting Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran
(New York Times) Peter Baker - Top Pentagon and military officials were stunned by the operation targeting Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, particularly the decision to conduct it in the Iranian capital. One senior U.S. military officer said that while Iran must be embarrassed by the extraordinary security lapse, it may also be fearful of engaging in a full-scale war with Israel. While Israel has not publicly confirmed its involvement in the killing of Haniyeh, U.S. officials privately acknowledged that it had been carried out by the Israelis. Robert Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said such preemptive targeting is actually in keeping with the Biden administration's pressure on Israel to favor targeted strikes against Hamas leaders instead of wide-scale military operations that result in civilian casualties. "In a certain way, this is exactly what the U.S. has been urging Israel to do," he said. "That's one reason why you're not hearing too many people in the administration being critical of this."