US will seek Gaza ceasefire despite Hamas leader's death - Blinken

The United States will seek a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip despite the death of Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh, said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday, Sputnik reported. 

Earlier in the day, the Palestinian group Hamas confirmed the death of Ismail as a result of an Israeli strike on his residence in the Iranian capital.

According to the group, Ismail was killed in an Israeli “raid” on his residence in Tehran after he participated in the inauguration ceremony of the new president of Iran.

“Well, I have seen the reports. All I can tell is that nothing takes away the importance from the way to getting to a ceasefire...

“I am not going to speculate on what impact anyone of them might have on that, I have learned over many years never really speculate about that because we simply do not know.

“What I do know is the enduring imperative of getting a ceasefire, and what I do know is we will continue to work at that every day,” Blinken (above) told a press conference.

In an interview with Singaporean news channel CNA, Blinken said Washington was “not aware of or involved in” Ismail’s assassination.

He said it was difficult to predict the consequences of the killing, highlighting the need for a ceasefire and adding that the US “will continue to labour that for as long as it takes to get there”.

- Bernama

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