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Hamas: Political Chief Ismail Haniyeh Killed In Tehran; Israel : Beirut Strike Killed Senior Hezbollah Commander; Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh Killed In Tehran. Hamas Political Chief Ismail Haniyeh Killed in Tehran; Hamas Claims He Was Killed in Zionist Strike on His Residence in Tehran; Iranian State Media Says an Airborne Guided Projectile Struck His Residence. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired July 31, 2024 - 02:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[02:00:33]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome to CNN Newsroom. I'm Becky Anderson. We are following breaking news. Hamas says its political leader Ismail Haniyeh has been killed in Tehran. You can see him here meeting with Iran's newly elected president on Tuesday before the President's inauguration ceremony which he had attended. In his statement, Hamas claims Haniyeh was killed in a "Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran after that ceremony."

There is no official word from the Israeli military when asked for comment. Only a brief statement saying "they don't respond to reports in the foreign media." Well, Haniyeh was a longtime member of Hamas joining in the late 1980s and rising through the ranks over the years before becoming the group's political chief in 2017. Hamas officials have been quick to respond to his assassination with one warning, "it's a moment of truth for Israel."

And others says it's a "cowardly act, which will not pass in vain." And Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas calls Haniyeh's is killing a "dangerous developments."

Well, joining me now here in London is our chief international security correspondent Nick Paton Walsh. Nick, your initial thoughts in response to the news that we've just reported?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, we went to bed last night seeing a strike on a senior Hezbollah leader in Beirut and being concerned that that could potentially tip the region over the edge of the months of simmering tensions between Hezbollah and a leading Iranian proxy between Israel and leading Iranian proxy Hezbollah.

And now this news. However, this occurred, a deeply embarrassing moment for Iranian authorities inside of Tehran, could potentially push us get closer. Quite what any larger conflagration would look like terrifying to behold, but also complex to divine. What do we know about what happened, it seems around about 2:00 this morning according to the Iranian Fars News Agency.

We know that there was an explosion, it appears around 2:00 in the morning when Haniyeh arrived for the inauguration of Iran's new president. He was apparently in one of the special residents for veterans in the north of Tehran. And Fars says more simply that he was martyred by a projectile in the air. Now it's the precise details of how this happened. And more importantly, how Iran says this happened.

They'll control the narrative of events on the ground and the closed society that Iran has that will dictate the hours ahead of us. If this was, for example, an Israeli air strike or some violation of the airspace, Iran may feel that's a griever insult and respond differently to perhaps what we've seen in the past as Israeli attack on the ground using covert assassination methods. So, we don't know the full details exactly how this went down.

But certainly, it shows Israel very much on its front foot here. They have said they will go after Hamas leaders in any eventuality. It shows them quite clearly on bowed, it's -- you might argue by American bids for calm here and de-escalation. This is a pretty forthright and inflammatory move, certainly, Haniyeh being one of the more moderate figures in Hamas prescribed organization by most of Western governments.

And so, I think we're going to see Iran here trying to project strength, come to terms with the embarrassments of this, certainly. But it's important to point out Becky too that Iran's immediate options are not particularly great. We saw after an attack on their Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders in Damascus that they launched 300 drones and missiles towards Israel directly from Iranian territory.

They were mostly shot down, mostly ineffective, after as really allies assisted Israel during that April attack. And we've also seen Iran it seems reluctant to push their main proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon forwards into a wider full-scale conflict with Israel. So, that reluctance may persist. And so, I think we're going to see in the hours ahead, Iran controlling the narrative carefully, potentially, trying to be sure they put themselves in a position where -- what they say has happened is something that they're able to respond to and what they would think has been a proportionate fashion.

[02:05:05]

But certainly, this leaves so many unanswered questions about the fate and negotiations between Hamas and Israel stalled, it seemed, for the most part in recent weeks. Haniyeh, a key moderate potentially, in that, also quite how this impacts Hezbollah's possible sense of the need to retaliate after what happened last night. And above all, I think to U.S. influence in the region here.

Are they able like they persistently say to calm this down, to bring both sides back to the sort of state of low simmering conflict we've seen over the last month? Again, we saw U.S. Secretary of Defense now in Asia saying how this is essentially not going to inevitably lead to war. They've been saying that now for days. But I think this morning, we woke up here in London to a region where that looks more likely, potentially, but at the same time to is very hard to define how that would actually physically play out despite the likely catastrophic consequences for Israelis and Lebanese. If indeed, it was Israel's northern border where we saw a conflagration, Becky.

ANDERSON: Yes. And if this was Israel with an airstrike inside Iran, it also calls into question, of course, whether the new Iranian President would be willing or able to actually pursue U.S.-Iranian sort of diplomacy going forward as well. Nick, you've laid out why this is such a consequential morning here in London, morning in the Middle East and why this has such significant impact. Thank you. Nick Paton Walsh on the story following his sources more from him shortly.

Well, earlier on Tuesday, as Nick suggested, Hezbollah's most senior commander was killed in a drone strike in Beirut, Israel has claimed responsibility, saying it was retaliation for the deadly rocket attack in the occupied Golan Heights. Well, the IDF blame forward soccer for Saturday's attack which killed 12 children and as well as other attacks on Israel in recent months. Hezbollah and Lebanon have not yet confirmed the commander's death but Hezbollah now confirmed Shukr was present at the time of the strike.

The Lebanese health ministry says a woman and two children were killed in that Beirut strike, with 74 others injured. This marks the most significant Israeli escalation since tensions with Hezbollah fled after the October 7th Hamas attacks. Hezbollah has denied responsibility for the Golan Heights attack.

Meantime, Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister condemned the IDF strike in Beirut, calling that a clear violation of international law. Paula Hancocks is with us. Paula, as we consider the news that we have just received the assassination or death of the Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, so we consider what the last 24 hours has wrought with the death of the Hezbollah leader in Beirut.

What more do we know at this about -- point about the circumstances of his death and what happens next?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, we know that Ismail Haniyeh was in Tehran for the inauguration of the new Arabian president. That happened on Tuesday. We understand that in the early hours of Wednesday morning is when this assassination took place. Now, the Hamas statement says that he was in a residence in Tehran. We're hearing from state media that this could potentially have been in northern Tehran.

We were waiting more confirmation on the exact details of what happened. But what we do know is that we are hearing a number of very strong, very fiery statements from not just Hamas and also Islamic Jihad, but also the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. He issued a written statement saying that he strongly denounced and condemned this killing, saying it was a cowardly act and a dangerous development.

Now when it comes to the statements from Hamas, they are threatening retaliation as you might expect. Talking about this will not pass in vain. They are ready to pay various prices and the moment of truth has come. Now Palestinian factions have called for a general strike and protests across Palestinian territories. We will see whether or not that will materialize in the -- in the coming hours.

[02:10:06]

But that's certainly something we're going to be looking out for and what kind of retaliation might happen. We know that Hamas is severely weakened, given that the past months of war in Gaza since the October 7th attacks in Israel, but potentially, we have heard from many experts that there could be more Iranian proxies that become involved in some kind of retaliation. So, really, the hours and the days to come, Becky, will be crucial to see what kind of fallout there will be in the region for this killing. Becky?

ANDERSON: Paula Hancocks is in Abu Dhabi. I want to get to Kim Ghattas now who is in Beirut. She's a contributing writer for The Atlantic Magazine. She's also a contributing editor with the Financial Times, author of Black Wave and a good friend of ours here at CNN. Kim, if this indeed was Israel, if this was Israel with -- what appears to be the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Iran. This would be two Israeli assassinations on foreign soil in what? 24 hours. Kim, what do you make of the news that we are just getting in?

KIM GHATTAS, CONTRIBUTING WRITER, THE ATLANTIC MAGAZINE: Good morning, Becky. It's good to be with you from Beirut. Well, certainly very tense moments both in Lebanon and across the region. Everybody watching what this means, how this is going to unfold. It's noteworthy that Hezbollah has still not confirmed that the commander targeted yesterday in the southern suburbs of Beirut Fuad Shukr has indeed been killed.

They're saying that the rescue operations are still underway. And that, to me sounds like they want some time to think through what their next move is going to be. When it comes to the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Teheran, what I found interesting was to watch videos of him yesterday evening, walking around Tehran seemingly very comfortable, at ease, not worried about his security to then have him assassinated in his -- in a residence used by veterans in Tehran shows you that he did not fear that he might be a target at this point in time which I would think is a little bit odd.

You'd think that all Hamas leaders knowing that Israel as promised to target them would take more security measures, especially at this time. It also shows you that Israel has some good intel, both in Lebanon and in Iran. They're able to carry out these assassinations quite easily. I would say we've seen many commanders in Lebanon, targeted by Israeli strikes over the last nine months, mid-level commanders, but they are able to get the intelligence to conduct these assassinations.

And similarly, for the targeting of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, he was -- he doesn't live there full time. So, it's not as though the Israeli state track his routine over many days. He had arrived for the inauguration of the Iranian, new president. So, a lot of good intel, probably intelligence gathering on the ground, agents providing information for Israel. The key question, of course is how are Hezbollah and Iran going to respond to this?

We are getting very close to the possibility of an all-out conflagration. But I'd like to put forward a possible other trajectory. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister can now declare a kind of victory. He has, in a way gotten payback for October 7th. He has targeted a very high-ranking Hamas leader or be not one in Gaza itself. Yahya Sinwar is still alive and conducting, you know, day to day operations there.

And that could allow Benjamin Netanyahu to then say I'm ready for a ceasefire deal. But it all depends on how Hezbollah and Iran are going to respond. They are going to respond. The question is, can it be contained and choreographed in the same way that it was in April when Iran and Israel, you know, launched missiles and drones at each other.

ANDERSON: It's an interesting point. There will be those experts who say that this also kills the -- any ceasefire deal dead at this point. I do get your point though. This penetration of Iran's defense has exposed Tehran at a time when it has been looking to restore its deterrence, vis-a-vis, Israel.

[02:15:10]

So, I just wonder whether this also gets as one regional analyst, as suggested gets Benjamin Netanyahu, the potential for the war that many say he has been looking for with Iran throwing the region that you're in, that I live in, in the Gulf into chaos at this point?

GHATTAS: Well, I hope that the Biden administration would counsel Netanyahu strongly against that. And all the statements we're getting from Washington are about restraint, calm, and very interestingly saying that an all-out regional war is not inevitable. Of course, they also say that if it were to come to that they'd stand by Israel. But I find those words not inevitable. Very interesting. And yes, you know, the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh could take the region into all-out war.

The same way that we got to that brink in April of this year. Iran felt it had to respond to save face at the time. And that's what it did. Because the targets in Damascus at the time if you're a member for which Iran wanted to retaliate was the killing of an Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Commander inside a Iranian diplomatic facility. Is Iran going to go to war for Hamas?

Over the last nine months, I would say that Iran and Hezbollah have shown clearly that while they want to show that they stand in support of Hamas, they're not willing to go to all-out war for Hamas. And that has been a very fine line to walk for them. Remember, in 2020 a strike targeted the commander of the Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani in Iraq and the Iranian response wasn't what, you know, what we expected it to be.

It's been a non-response so far. So, it really depends on what Iran thinks is in its best interest today. Does it want -- does Iran want a full-out war? I don't think so. If they don't want a full-on war, how are they going to respond to this assassination on Iranian soil in such a way that it can be contained and they don't look like the ones to ignite the region further.

ANDERSON: Fascinating. Well, we will obviously continue to follow this in the hours to come. It's always good to have you on, Kim. Kim Ghattas is in Beirut with the expert analysis from there.

Well, more on our breaking news in a moment. Hamas says it's political leaders been assassinated in Tehran. Stay with CNN NEWSROOM.

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ANDERSON: We're following breaking news from Tehran where Hamas says its political leader Ismail Haniyeh has been assassinated. Hamas issued a statement saying Haniyeh was killed in what it called a Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran. On Tuesday, he attended the inauguration of Iran's new president. When asked for comment, the Israeli military says it does not respond to reports in the foreign media.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the killing of Haniyeh calling it a cowardly act and a dangerous development. Well, joining me now from Brisbane, retired Australian Army Major General Mick Ryan. He is also a former commander at the Australia Defense College. The question at this point is just how worrying a development this is. Mike, let's start with what we do know. We know the Hamas leader was killed in Tehran.

We don't know who was responsible. All indications are or at least expectations are that Israel was responsible even as the IDF says it doesn't respond to foreign media reports, which of course, isn't true because they often do. It's the media reports that they want to respond to. But be that as it may, Mick. If this were Israel, how would this have worked?

MAJ. GEN. MICK RYAN (RET.), AUSTRALIAN ARMY (via Skype): Well, I think this would have been all done by humans. I mean, at the end of the day, this isn't the kind of thing where they want to fly drones or missiles into Tehran. This would have been a human-based operation. In January when Israel killed another Hamas commander in Beirut. After that, the head of (INAUDIBLE) once again, asserted that they would hunt down, they would find everyone responsible for the massacres of 7th October and this appears to be the Israelis making good on that promise.

ANDERSON: How might Iran respond at this point?

RYAN: Well, I think they'll be very careful in how they calibrate this. They're not after a wider war with Israel. And as we saw, when they did attempt that missile strike against Israel previously, it didn't go so well. And when Israel struck back at them, Iran really went nothing more to see here. So, they'll respond in some way. But it's unlikely to be directly they may do something through proxies.

The problem they have is that the killing of the Hezbollah commander in Beirut today really combines with the killing of the Hamas commander to make it a far more combustible situation than it might otherwise have been.

[02:25:00]

ANDERSON: Two -- the deaths of two leading characters in two groups. Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, the organization in Gaza, of course and Hezbollah, Iran's proxy on the southern Lebanon border. The Northern Front, Israel see that. You suggest to your mind that Iran isn't looking for a wider regional conflict at this point. There will be those who suggest that Benjamin Netanyahu is certainly looking for a ratcheting up of conflict with Iran. How do you see this through the lens of Israel and the Israeli prime minister?

RYAN: Well, I don't know what the Israeli Prime Minister's thinking at any given time. And I know there are some who believe that eventually Israel and Iran are going to have to duke it out. I don't know anyone who really thinks now is the time to do that. And I think both sides will be looking at ways to kind of step back from what might be a very perilous situation for both countries.

ANDERSON: Good to have you. Thank you, Mick. Mick Ryan.

RYAN: Thank you.

ANDERSON: Well, I've now to Haifa, in Israel and to CNN's Jeremy Diamond. Jeremy, what are you hearing there?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, we don't have any official reaction from the Israeli government. But there's no sense that there is a positive feeling in all of Israel following this apparent assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Iran. And that's because while Ismail Haniyeh was officially Hamas's political leader and was not necessarily intimately involved in a Hamas's of military operations.

And it's not clear how much knowledge he had a prior for Hamas's October 7th terrorist attacks. There's no question that Ismail Haniyeh was viewed as being responsible for the October 7th massacre. There were images of him celebrating those attacks on that day. And so, there is a sense of happiness in Israel that Haniyeh is no longer of this world. Israeli government officials had made clear for months now that they would carry out -- that they would take out any and all Hamas leaders involved or viewed as responsible for the October 7th attacks.

Making clear that the long arm of Israel would strike those leaders and officials and commanders wherever they may be. And we have now seen that they have made good on that promise. As it relates to Hamas is a political leader Ismail Haniya. And of course, the question now is what will this do to the region? Haniyeh's killing came less than 24 hours after we saw Israel carry out this targeted airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut taking out Hezbollah's senior most military commander, Fuad Shukr there.

And so, already there were questions after that airstrike about what this would mean for the region at such a very, very delicate moment. And now you add on to that the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh to key leaders of Iranian proxies of both Hezbollah and Hamas killed in the span of 24 hours, raising questions not only about how Hezbollah will respond and whether it will change its plans for how they would respond for the killing of Fuad Shukr.

Also, how Hamas will now respond, but the bigger question, of course, whether Iran itself will feel compelled to respond to. And that's because we are in a new world following those Iranian attacks -- the first open Iranian attacks on Israeli soil back in April. We are now in a new world, a new calculus in terms of Iran-Israel relations and how they feel prepared and compelled to act militarily against one another.

And so, will Iran feel like this was a violation of its sovereignty such that it feels it needs to respond directly to Israel or will it respond instead via its proxies? But there's no question that this is a very tense moment, a very delicate moment for the region. And all eyes will be on how Iran and its proxies responds to this latest development.

ANDERSON: And what this means for ceasefire and hostage talks at present? Haniyeh, of course, have been intimately involved in these talks. He's based in Doha and I'd been in direct mediation with those negotiating these talks on the one hand and the military wing on the ground in Gaza on the other including Israel's number one target, of course, in Israel, Yahya Sinwar. Where does Haniyeh's death leave these talks, which were supposed to be sort of underway and provided some momentum in Rome just this week?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you know well, Becky, Ismail Haniyeh was one of the key interlocutors with the mediators in these ceasefire and hostage deal negotiations. And in addition to that, he was also viewed as a somewhat pragmatic figure in these talks, perhaps more inclined to make concessions, more inclined to try and reach a deal than Yahya Sinwar, Hamas' leader in Gaza, was himself.

And so, this raises questions about the future of those negotiations. As you said, coming at a very delicate and critical moment in those negotiations. Earlier this week, Israel, on Sunday, submitted its official response to those negotiations to the mediators, which was then transmitted to Hamas. Hamas then said that Netanyahu appeared to be reverting back to his strategy of delay and resistance to these talks, inserting several 11th hour demands.

But there was nonetheless a sense of momentum over the course of these last few weeks, make no mistake, that momentum is absolutely gone with the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh. It doesn't necessarily mean that those talks are dead altogether, but certainly, at least in the short term, it is going to have an enormous impact on those negotiations.

As far as the medium- and the long-term, we will have to see who succeeds Ismail Haniyeh as the head of Hamas and the extent to which Yahya Sinwar in Gaza gets expanded influence as a result of this power vacuum.

ANDERSON: Jeremy Diamond is in Haifa in Israel. Good to have you, Jeremy. Thank you very much indeed.

We are tracking breaking news out of Iran this hour, where Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh has been assassinated. Reaction from Beirut as we get around the region is just ahead here on CNN. Stay with us.

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[02:37:00]

ANDERSON: Let's get you to our breaking news (inaudible) up to date, Hamas says the assassination of its political leader will not pass in vain. The group says Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran after he attended the inauguration of the country's new president. Israel says it does not respond to reports in the foreign media. Haniyeh was a key participant in ceasefire and hostage talks with Egypt and Qatar. Palestinian factions in the West Bank are calling for a general strike to protest his assassination.

Well, joining me now here in London is Chief International Security Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh. What more are we learning at this point about his death?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Look, I mean, the details here are going to be absolutely key in terms of how Iran feels they have to fashion their response. And it isn't entirely clear how this, frankly, seismic event went down. About two o'clock in the in the morning in Tehran, northern Tehran, it appears Ismail Haniyeh is staying at a residence for war veterans, unclear entirely who runs that actual residence.

It's key because if it was protected by the Revolutionary Guard Corps, that could potentially be an embarrassment directly to them. There are suggestions perhaps that it was not indeed under their protection, but the phrase that's key here is that he apparently -- that building was hit by a projectile in the air. Now, that could be multiple things. It does seem to suggest some sort of rocket or missile. But as I said, the wording there absolutely key.

But also to -- that statement goes on to make a key distinction here, which is to say that further investigations are underway to determine the details of this terrorist operation. I'm citing Iranian media here and their characterization of this, especially the position from which the projectile was fired. Now, the position from which the projectiles fired is going to be key for Iran. If it was an airstrike, something airborne that violated their air space, that would certainly be an embarrassment to Iran, it may push it into a position where it feels it has to respond in kind.

But we have seen Israel not necessarily claiming them, but being alleged to be behind multiple assassination attempts inside of Tehran itself. This could potentially be one of those. And I think as we move forwards, we are going to learn more about the precision nature of this, how indeed of course they happen to know exactly where he was staying in Tehran and possibly even in that building. The extent of the damage to the building was this pinpoint limited amount of explosives to kill a specific individual because there are other casualties or damage in there as well. And all of this will influence what Tehran feels it has to do next.

This is not an Iranian being hit. It's an embarrassment certainly to Iranian hospitality and the security bubble of their capital definitely and of course, it has a huge impact on their role as a regional power because Israel often accuses Hamas of being extensively backed by Iran.

[02:40:00]

There, he was attending an inauguration of the new President Pezeshkian in just the last 24 hours. And so, that is an embarrassment certainly, but we are at a key moment here, Becky. We have to look at, realistically, what cards Iran could play. We went to bed hearing of the assassination of a key Hezbollah military commander in southern Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold. The region on edge as to what Hezbollah might feel compelled to do in response to that. That has now been overshadowed entirely by the killing of -- assassination of Haniyeh in Tehran.

And so, yes, escalation ladders here being climbed quite fast. The issue for Iran is quite what it can do in response. It's been reluctant thus far to push its main proxy in the region, it's strongest proxy in the region, Hezbollah, into all out war with Israel. It will be catastrophic for both sides of the Israeli-Lebanese border if indeed that did occur. Is this the moment that makes them do that? Unclear, unlikely, and the bigger question, of course, for Iran is, would you really want to use your key military asset in the region in a conflict that's likely to massively damage it and the country in which it exists for something like this? Is this the reason to press that button?

The other option, back in April, we saw senior IRGC commanders killed in a strike on a consulate in Damascus. That led the Iranians to launch 300 missiles and drones directly from Iranian territory towards Israel. But they were mostly intercepted, shown to be effectively homeless with modern air defenses and Israel's western allied support. So, Iran's options are I think limited in terms of the effectiveness of things that can happen unless it wants to start an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah on that Lebanese border area and beyond up into Beirut.

And so, now, I think we are going to see Tehran assessing what happens, assessing what it can say about what happened, and what benefits it most as the narrative here of this extraordinary killing. Be absolutely in no doubt here, if this indeed was Israel and they have not confirmed it's them, extraordinary information at their disposal and ability to reach with great precision inside the heart of Iran capital there --

ANDERSON: Yeah.

PATON WALSH: -- inside their security bubble. So, a moment of great trepidation here, certainly, but one that we've not seen so far, immediately launch barrages of rockets or tip the region into a new phase of conflict.

ANDERSON: Yeah.

PATON WALSH: So troubling hours ahead, certainly, but quite the details of what Iran says happened is absolutely key here going forward.

ANDERSON: Yeah, absolutely. You are making some very good points. Is this the occasion that escalates the war in Gaza to a regional level? Certainly, Nick, that is the warning of Turkey this morning, who are calling this an assassination, not directly pointing the finger of blame at Israel but suggesting that the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has, and I quote the foreign minister of Turkey here, has no intention of achieving peace. The words this morning of the Turkish foreign minister in response to the news that we are reporting, the death -- alleged assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, the political leader, of course, of her Hamas.

Nick, it was a pleasure. Thank you, Nick Paton Walsh, on the story for you. S till to come. Global reaction to the assassination of the Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh is next. Stay with us.

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[02:47:45]

ANDERSON: We are updating our breaking news. Hamas says its political leader Ismail Haniyeh has been assassinated in Tehran. According to Iranian state media and I quote here, 'airborne guided projectile' was used to strike where Haniyeh was staying in northern Tehran, after he had attended the inauguration of Iran's new president, while Hamas has referred to it as a quote, 'Zionist strike.' So far no official comment from Israel other than saying it does not respond to reports from foreign media.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials have previously vowed to eliminate Hamas and its leadership in response to the October 7th attacks on Israel. Well, let's bring in CNN's Jomana Karadsheh. She is with us here in London and you have been monitoring not just the details of what we understand to be this alleged assassination, but also the response, Jomana.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, I mean, as you were discussing a short time ago with Nick, the region has been on a knife's edge for the last 24 hours, if not since this weekend, following that attack by -- in the Golan Heights, and the Israeli response we saw yesterday with the assassination, the targeted killing of a Hezbollah leader in Beirut southern suburbs, and people in the region went to sleep yesterday fearing the worst, fearing that this could lead to further escalation in the region, something that everyone has been fearing, and they are waking up to this news right now.

And we are starting to get reaction coming in from Hamas officials, calling it -- saying that this is a moment of truth that has come, a grave escalation, and that this will not pass in vain. This is coming from various officials for Hamas, but keeping in mind, of course, Becky, the state that Hamas is in right now, any sort of retaliation or response highly unlikely, considering the situation on the ground in Gaza right now.

[02:50:00]

Palestinian leaders, President Mahmoud Abbas and others condemning it, praising Ismail Haniyeh. The U.S. has not really -- has declined to comment further on this, saying that they have seen the reports. The Russians calling this unacceptable and saying that it threatens further escalation in the region. A very strong statement coming in as well from the Turkish foreign ministry, calling this --the killing of Ismail Haniyeh despicable and 'aims to escalate the war in Gaza to a regional level.'

It says that the killing was an assassination and they haven't yet accused Israel outright of that, but here saying that Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has no intention of achieving peace. So, we expect to hear more from various countries in the region. Of course, since October, as you know very well, Becky, the fear has been -- a lot of concern from different countries in the region that the Middle East is one incident away from all-out war. So, we'll have to wait and see. Of course, all eyes on Tehran and how it will respond, if it does at all, to this.

ANDERSON: Yeah. We are all watching for what happens next. Jomana, thank you very much indeed. Jomana Karadsheh on the show. In a moment, more on our breaking news, the assassination of a top Hamas leader, arguably one of the top Hamas leaders. Stay with CNN.

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[02:55:52]

ANDERSON: Well, the latest on our breaking news, the political leader of Hamas has been assassinated in the Iranian capital. Iranian state media says Ismail Haniyeh was killed around 2:00 a.m. local time by an airborne guided projectile that struck his residence. The Palestinian Authority has condemned the assassination and is calling for national unity amongst all Palestinian factions.

Well, that's it for this hour of "CNN Newsroom." I'm Becky Anderson in London. I'll be back with more after what is a very short break. Stay with us.

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