A Hamas leader was assassinated. Will war spread?
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 31 July 2024
⏱️ 26 minutes
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Summary
On Wednesday, Hamas’s No. 1 political leader outside of Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, was assassinated in Iran. As the impact of his death ripples around the world, the assassination risks making the already deadly conflicts in the Middle East a lot worse.
Host Martine Powers speaks with Steve Hendrix, The Post’s Jerusalem bureau chief, to understand how this apparent assassination has compounded fears of a larger war in the Middle East – and what could prevent it.
Today’s show was produced by Emma Talkoff, with help from Sabby Robinson and Ali Bianco. It was edited by Reena Flores, with help from Monica Campbell, and it was mixed by Sean Carter. Thanks to Jenn Amur and Erin Cunningham.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | An assassination in the heart of Iran is having ripple effects around the world. |
| 0:08.8 | We woke up to news that an extraordinary event had happened in the region, an assassination in the center of an |
| 0:13.2 | extraordinary event had happened in the region, an assassination in the center of Tehran. |
| 0:17.8 | It turned out to be Hamas's number one political leader outside of Gaza, Ishmael Haniya. |
| 0:26.7 | That is Steve Hendricks, the Jerusalem Bureau Chief for the post. |
| 0:30.8 | Hamas and Iran immediately blamed Israel for the killing. |
| 0:34.6 | So far, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country dealt, quote, crushing blows |
| 0:39.6 | to Hamas, but he stopped short of claiming responsibility. |
| 0:44.2 | The details of Hanya's death are still unclear. |
| 0:48.0 | But if you thought that things were already tense in the Middle East, this shocking attack in the capital of Iran could make the situation |
| 0:56.3 | a lot worse. |
| 0:58.2 | To be honest, it's kind of hard to shock me these days because almost every week brings such a huge political or |
| 1:05.5 | military upheaval but I was quite stunned that an operation like this whatever |
| 1:11.5 | it was could happen in the center of Tehran. |
| 1:15.0 | It's an amazing feat of intelligence and some kind of military mission, and it also is a terrifying |
| 1:20.8 | development here where the region is already on pins and needles just trying to avoid a wider regional war. |
| 1:29.0 | We've already got Israel fighting Hamas in Gaza, we've got Hezbollah trading attacks across the border in Lebanon. |
| 1:38.1 | And now a major attack inside of Iran certainly holds prospects to put a match to the whole situation. |
| 1:47.0 | From the newsroom of the Washington Post, this is Post reports. I'm Martin Powers. It's Wednesday, July 31st. |
| 1:56.8 | Today we're sitting down with Steve to understand how this assassination of Hamas's top political leader |
| 2:04.0 | is adding to fears of a wider war in the Middle East, |
| 2:07.5 | and what it would take to prevent that. So Steve, tell me a little bit more about this Hamas official who was killed, |
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