The United States was \u201cnot aware of or involved in\u201d the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated on Wednesday. Blinken\u2019s comments came during an interview with Channel News Asia in Singapore, with a transcript provided by his staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is something we were neither aware of nor involved in,\u201d Blinken emphasized. Despite denying any involvement, Blinken highlighted that the assassination underscored the urgent need for a cease-fire in Gaza. \u201cThis event makes achieving a ceasefire in Gaza even more imperative,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a forum in Singapore, Blinken reiterated the importance of reaching a ceasefire, describing it as \u201cthe enduring imperative.\u201d He outlined the broader U.S. strategy to stabilize the region and prevent conflict from escalating. \u201cFrom the very beginning, we\u2019ve been focused not just on improving the situation in Gaza but also on stopping the conflict from spreading,\u201d Blinken explained. He mentioned potential flashpoints including Lebanon and Hezbollah, the Red Sea with the Houthis, as well as Iran, Syria, and Iraq.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe key to ensuring that we do not see further escalation and that we can move toward a better future is achieving a ceasefire,\u201d Blinken stated.<\/p>\n
Haniyeh was reportedly attending the inauguration of Iran\u2019s new president when he was killed by an Israeli airstrike, according to Hamas. In response, Hamas blamed Israel for the assassination and vowed that the \u201ccowardly\u201d killing of their leader \u201cwill not go unanswered.\u201d<\/p>\n
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has maintained a strong stance against Hamas, vowing to destroy the organization in retaliation for its October 7 incursion into Israel. The incursion led to the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians, based on an AFP tally from official Israeli figures. Moreover, Palestinian resistance groups took 251 hostages, with 111 still being held in Gaza, including 39 whom the Israeli military believes are deceased.<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s subsequent military campaign has resulted in nearly 40,000 deaths in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry. Blinken highlighted that achieving a ceasefire is crucial not only for humanitarian reasons but also for regional stability. \u201cIt\u2019s in the interests of the hostages and bringing them home, and it\u2019s profoundly in the interest of Palestinians who are suffering every single day, including children, women, and men in Gaza,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Blinken concluded by emphasizing that resolving the conflict in Gaza is essential for broader regional stability. He noted, \u201cA lot is connected to the current situation in Gaza,\u201d highlighting the extensive impact of the ongoing violence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The United States was \u201cnot aware of or involved in\u201d the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated, stressing the urgent need for a cease-fire in Gaza.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":411,"featured_media":26506,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[888,4077,3609,317,322,4605,316,13715],"class_list":["post-26477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-iran","tag-antony-blinken","tag-assassination","tag-ceasefire","tag-gaza","tag-hamas","tag-ismail-haniyeh","tag-israel","tag-middle-east-conflict"],"reading_time":"3 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/411"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26477\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}