WEBVTT - Instant Reaction: Hamas Leader Assassinated in Iran

0:00:01.680 --> 0:00:07.600
<v Speaker 1>This is breaking new US from Bloomberg. Hamas says Israel

0:00:07.760 --> 0:00:12.480
<v Speaker 1>killed its political leader Ismael Hania in an airstrike on Tehran.

0:00:12.880 --> 0:00:16.120
<v Speaker 1>Hania is a chief negotiator for Hamas. He was in

0:00:16.120 --> 0:00:19.360
<v Speaker 1>Iran's capital for the inauguration of the country's new president.

0:00:19.680 --> 0:00:23.079
<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg's Dan Williams in Jerusalem says the killing follows the

0:00:23.120 --> 0:00:25.759
<v Speaker 1>recent death of another top level Hamas official.

0:00:26.200 --> 0:00:30.160
<v Speaker 2>It's very, very impressive in terms of operations. We're talking

0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:33.960
<v Speaker 2>about two Middle East capitals, two very senior targets with

0:00:34.080 --> 0:00:38.239
<v Speaker 2>apparently very limited damage around them. Kind of surgical strikes

0:00:38.400 --> 0:00:41.720
<v Speaker 2>that could also be considered of strategic value. So in

0:00:41.720 --> 0:00:45.960
<v Speaker 2>a sense, Netaniel will have burnished his credentials here having

0:00:46.000 --> 0:00:49.879
<v Speaker 2>been batted by the October seventh attacks that really blindsided

0:00:49.960 --> 0:00:54.120
<v Speaker 2>Israel and cause casualties on an unprecedented scale.

0:00:54.200 --> 0:00:57.520
<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg's Dan william says Hennia's death follows an Israeli strike

0:00:57.560 --> 0:01:01.200
<v Speaker 1>on Beirut last night, targeting a senior Hesbola commander. That

0:01:01.280 --> 0:01:03.720
<v Speaker 1>attack was a response to a rocket assault that killed

0:01:03.720 --> 0:01:06.720
<v Speaker 1>twelve young people in the Israeli controlled goal On Heights

0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:10.280
<v Speaker 1>over the weekend. Joining US from Dubai is Bloomberg Middle

0:01:10.319 --> 0:01:14.400
<v Speaker 1>East anchor Jumana Bursechi, Jumana, good morning. It has been

0:01:14.560 --> 0:01:18.880
<v Speaker 1>a rapidly developing series of situations in just the last

0:01:19.160 --> 0:01:23.120
<v Speaker 1>seven hour span, between the killing of the Hesbola commander

0:01:23.160 --> 0:01:26.319
<v Speaker 1>and now the death of Ismail Hania. What is the

0:01:26.440 --> 0:01:29.440
<v Speaker 1>risk of further escalation at this point?

0:01:30.080 --> 0:01:32.440
<v Speaker 3>Well, at this point, the risk of further escalation is

0:01:32.440 --> 0:01:35.000
<v Speaker 3>certainly a lot higher than it was twenty four hours ago.

0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:38.920
<v Speaker 3>Two senior commanders taken out in the space of twelve hours.

0:01:39.080 --> 0:01:42.480
<v Speaker 3>As you rightly point out, the strike in Beirut took

0:01:42.520 --> 0:01:46.640
<v Speaker 3>out a senior Hesbola commander very close to Hesbala leader,

0:01:47.040 --> 0:01:50.440
<v Speaker 3>said Hassan Asrela. But then the strike in Iran was

0:01:50.520 --> 0:01:55.880
<v Speaker 3>also a very surprising development. Ismail Hani, the leader of Hamas,

0:01:56.040 --> 0:02:00.320
<v Speaker 3>was killed in that assassination. And the interesting thing is

0:02:00.360 --> 0:02:03.840
<v Speaker 3>that it happened on Iranian soil. And because of that,

0:02:04.000 --> 0:02:06.360
<v Speaker 3>the comments that have come out of Iran just in

0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:09.640
<v Speaker 3>the last couple of hours or so have been very inflammatory.

0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:14.760
<v Speaker 3>The president, the new president, who was receiving his inauguration

0:02:14.840 --> 0:02:17.280
<v Speaker 3>sermon me yesterday, put out a statement saying we will

0:02:17.320 --> 0:02:20.720
<v Speaker 3>defend our territorial integrity, and that is not, of course,

0:02:20.800 --> 0:02:23.240
<v Speaker 3>the fact that the incident happens on Iranian soil and

0:02:23.280 --> 0:02:25.960
<v Speaker 3>Iran will make terrorists. This is a quote regret their action.

0:02:26.200 --> 0:02:28.920
<v Speaker 3>That was followed up by quotes from the Ayatollah, the

0:02:29.040 --> 0:02:34.600
<v Speaker 3>Supreme Leader, saying that the severe punishment awaits Israel. So

0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:38.960
<v Speaker 3>very strong wording coming out of Iran, and interesting with

0:02:39.040 --> 0:02:42.440
<v Speaker 3>the backdrop, of course being that the new president had

0:02:42.560 --> 0:02:46.239
<v Speaker 3>campaigned on being a reformist and reopening up some of

0:02:46.280 --> 0:02:47.800
<v Speaker 3>the diplomatic channels with the West.

0:02:47.880 --> 0:02:50.119
<v Speaker 4>It seems as though that window is closing now.

0:02:50.480 --> 0:02:54.680
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, we all remember the last time Israel struck Iran's

0:02:54.800 --> 0:02:58.840
<v Speaker 1>territory with that drone attack. There was that massive response

0:02:58.880 --> 0:03:03.480
<v Speaker 1>of hundreds of drones and missiles fired at Israel. With

0:03:03.680 --> 0:03:08.280
<v Speaker 1>the changed political situation in Iran now with a new president,

0:03:08.560 --> 0:03:10.799
<v Speaker 1>what could the calculus be at this point.

0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:15.520
<v Speaker 3>The calculus is that anytime an attack happens on Iranian

0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:19.480
<v Speaker 3>territory or Iranian soil, the leadership are going to see

0:03:19.520 --> 0:03:23.679
<v Speaker 3>an impetus to want to respond back. In April, what

0:03:23.720 --> 0:03:27.520
<v Speaker 3>you saw was a very targeted strike capital on both sides.

0:03:27.600 --> 0:03:31.840
<v Speaker 3>So when Iran responded to the Israeli attack on the

0:03:31.840 --> 0:03:37.360
<v Speaker 3>consulate in Syria. Again, they had very much telegraphed beforehands

0:03:37.400 --> 0:03:39.960
<v Speaker 3>what they were going to do. The Israeli response in

0:03:40.000 --> 0:03:43.280
<v Speaker 3>retaliation to that, again was quite surgical in nature as well,

0:03:43.320 --> 0:03:45.720
<v Speaker 3>and since then there's been this period of the terrence.

0:03:45.760 --> 0:03:48.640
<v Speaker 3>But on the back of this latest event that is

0:03:48.720 --> 0:03:51.960
<v Speaker 3>unfolded on Iranian territory, there will be an imperative from

0:03:52.000 --> 0:03:55.040
<v Speaker 3>the IRGC for them to come out with some sort

0:03:55.040 --> 0:03:58.520
<v Speaker 3>of response, and not just from Iran itself, but including

0:03:59.120 --> 0:04:01.680
<v Speaker 3>from the rest of the region and the other allies

0:04:01.680 --> 0:04:04.600
<v Speaker 3>that IT funds and backs in the region, including hezbalan

0:04:04.680 --> 0:04:06.840
<v Speaker 3>Hamas themselves, And if you listen to some of the

0:04:06.840 --> 0:04:11.440
<v Speaker 3>commentary that's come out of other regional leaders, Katari PM

0:04:11.480 --> 0:04:15.000
<v Speaker 3>putting out a statement saying, how can mediation succeed when

0:04:15.000 --> 0:04:16.440
<v Speaker 3>one party kills negotiator?

0:04:16.680 --> 0:04:18.480
<v Speaker 4>Here giving a nod of course.

0:04:18.200 --> 0:04:21.000
<v Speaker 3>To the fact that Isma Hanini Hani was the chief

0:04:21.040 --> 0:04:24.200
<v Speaker 3>negotiator with these ceasefire discussions.

0:04:24.240 --> 0:04:26.760
<v Speaker 4>Those also seemingly being put on hold as well.

0:04:27.000 --> 0:04:28.919
<v Speaker 1>Now I wanted to get a little bit more into

0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:31.400
<v Speaker 1>that as well. As you mentioned he was one of

0:04:31.400 --> 0:04:35.520
<v Speaker 1>the key negotiators in ceasefire talks in Gaza. Where do

0:04:35.560 --> 0:04:38.040
<v Speaker 1>those negotiations stand now where could they go?

0:04:38.600 --> 0:04:42.159
<v Speaker 3>These comments from the Katari Prime minister are really key.

0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:45.640
<v Speaker 3>They came out just about half an hour ago, saying

0:04:45.760 --> 0:04:50.080
<v Speaker 3>that it is impossible to continue the diplomatic avenue and

0:04:50.120 --> 0:04:53.400
<v Speaker 3>to continue with these negotiations given that the chief negotiator

0:04:53.400 --> 0:04:55.960
<v Speaker 3>on the part of Hamas has actually been killed. So

0:04:56.000 --> 0:04:58.200
<v Speaker 3>it does raise a lot of questions as to the

0:04:58.279 --> 0:05:03.200
<v Speaker 3>avenue forward from here. From the Israeli perspective, there has

0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:06.520
<v Speaker 3>been a lot of domestic turmoil, a lot of division

0:05:06.960 --> 0:05:10.480
<v Speaker 3>within the Israeli government, and I think this also reframes

0:05:10.800 --> 0:05:14.200
<v Speaker 3>the narrative around the regional developments now is a win

0:05:14.440 --> 0:05:17.680
<v Speaker 3>for the Prime Minister in Natanya who and his coalition

0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:21.200
<v Speaker 3>which have vowed to eliminate TAMAS leaders since the October

0:05:21.240 --> 0:05:23.240
<v Speaker 3>seventh attacks, So it probably buys them a little bit

0:05:23.240 --> 0:05:25.760
<v Speaker 3>more time. And what it does mean is the likelihood

0:05:25.880 --> 0:05:29.880
<v Speaker 3>of a ceasefire deal or truth being got to has

0:05:29.920 --> 0:05:30.400
<v Speaker 3>gone down.

0:05:31.080 --> 0:05:34.919
<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg's Jumana Barsacchi with us from Dubai this morning. I

0:05:34.920 --> 0:05:36.880
<v Speaker 1>know it's been a very busy time for you, Jamana,

0:05:36.920 --> 0:05:39.120
<v Speaker 1>so thank you for giving us some of your time

0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:42.159
<v Speaker 1>this morning. Jumana Barsecchi from Dubai