Israel admits to being behind Hamas leader Haniyeh killing

TEL AVIV

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has admitted for the first time publicly to Israel's killing of former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran in July, warning that the military would "decapitate" the leadership of Yemen's Houthi rebels.

"We will strike hard at the Houthis... and decapitate their leadership, just as we did with Haniyeh, [Yahya] Sinwar and [Hassan] Nasrallah in Tehran, Gaza and Lebanon, we will do so in Hodeida and Sanaa," Katz said, in the first public acknowledgement that Israel was behind the killing of Haniyeh in the Iranian capital.

In late July, the political leader of Hamas was killed in Tehran in an assassination blamed on Israel by Iranian authorities. There was no direct claim of responsibility by Israel for the killing of Haniyeh at the time.

The defense minister’s remarks came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate against Houthis after they fired a missile at Tel Aviv.

"As we acted with force against the terrorist arms of Iran's axis of evil, so we will act against the Houthis... with force, determination and sophistication," Netanyahu said in a video statement.

Meanwhile, Israel has instructed its diplomatic missions in Europe to try to get Houthis designated as a terrorist organization.

"The Houthis pose a threat not only to Israel but also to the region and the entire world. The first and most basic thing to do is to designate them as a terrorist organization," Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said in a statement.

The United States, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Israel currently designate the Houthis terrorists, according to Saar.