Israel Katz officially confirms: We killed Ismail Haniyeh

Defense Minister Israel Katz appears to have made the first official confirmation that Israel was responsible for the elimination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh at the end of July in Iran in a speech he gave in honor of local security officers.

In his statement, meant primarily as a warning to the Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen, Katz said that "in these days where the Houthi terrorist organization is firing missiles at Israel, I want to send them a clear message at the beginning of my talk: we beat Hamas, we beat Hezbollah, we blinded the defense systems in Iran...and we will strike powerfully also at the Houthi terrorist organization in Yemen which is the last one standing."

Katz then elaborated on what Israel would do to the Houthis: "We will harm its strategic infrastructures and behead its leaders - just as we did to Haniyeh, Sinwar, and Nasrallah in Tehran, Gaza, and Lebanon - so we will do in Hodeidah and Sanaa."

Katz ended by saying: "whoever lifts a hand against Israel will have his hand cut off, and the long arm of the IDF will harm him and hold him to account."