Foiled Plan to Kill Hamas Leader Khalil al-Hayya in Beirut Releaved by Israeli Media
News
Israeli media reveal a last-minute aborted assassination attempt against Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya at Beirut airport.
Key Takeaways
Israeli forces planned an airstrike targeting Khalil al-Hayya at Beirut’s international airport.
The assassination was aborted minutes before execution due to a lack of precise intelligence.
Al-Hayya has survived multiple Israeli assassination attempts over more than a decade.
The revelation highlights Israel’s cross-border assassination doctrine during the Gaza war.
Previous strikes targeting al-Hayya’s family and aides resulted in multiple civilian deaths.
Foiled Strike at Beirut Airport
Israeli public broadcaster KAN has revealed that the Israeli military aborted an assassination attempt targeting Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas political leader, at Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport during the early months of Israel’s war on Gaza.
According to the Hebrew-language report, al-Hayya was under direct Israeli surveillance and was moments away from being targeted by an aerial strike as he arrived in Beirut. Israeli security agencies were reportedly tracking his movements closely and had prepared to launch missiles at the airport.
The operation was ultimately canceled at the last moment after Israeli intelligence failed to obtain definitive confirmation of al-Hayya’s precise location, prompting concerns over a potential intelligence failure.
Long-Standing Target
The report states that al-Hayya had been placed on Israel’s high-priority assassination list from the outset of the war on Gaza—well before later Israeli strikes on Hamas figures in Doha in September.
In September 2025, Israeli aircraft struck a location in Doha during a meeting of Hamas’ negotiating delegation, believing al-Hayya was present. While al-Hayya survived, the attack killed his son Hammam al-Hayya, his office director Jihad Labad, several aides, and a Qatari officer. The strike drew widespread Arab and international condemnation.
This was not the first time Israel attempted to assassinate al-Hayya.
During Israel’s 2014 assault on Gaza, Israeli warplanes bombed his home in the Shuja’iyya neighborhood of Gaza City, killing his son, daughter-in-law, two grandchildren, and other family members. Al-Hayya survived.
In May 2021, during the “Sword of Jerusalem” confrontation, Israeli forces again bombed his residence in Gaza after publicly listing him as a target. He was not at home at the time.
Role in Gaza War and Negotiations
Al-Hayya currently serves as head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip and has played a central role throughout the genocide in Gaza, leading the movement’s negotiating delegation in ceasefire talks.
Before the genocide, he was responsible for Hamas’s Arab and Islamic relations portfolio. Israeli media have claimed—without evidence—that he coordinated regionally before October 7, 2023, including alleged contacts with Hezbollah.
The aborted Beirut operation underscores Israel’s long-standing policy of extrajudicial assassinations beyond Palestinian territory, including in Lebanon, Qatar, and elsewhere—often with catastrophic civilian consequences.
(Israeli Media, Palestinian Media, QNN, PC)
No state has the legal right to murder another person without a fair trial. That is the law. The terrorist state earns that apt title by its frequent use of murder with no trial. Why do civilized countries not condemn this practice?