Hamas chief Haniyeh’s killing ‘doesn’t help’ ceasefire talks, says Biden

[Pelican Press 0]

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****** chief Haniyeh’s ******** ‘doesn’t help’ ceasefire talks, says Biden

US President Joe Biden has said that the ************** of ****** leader Ismail Haniyeh “doesn’t help” talks over a potential ceasefire in Gaza.

Haniyeh was ******* during a visit to Iran’s capital, Tehran, on Wednesday. Iran and its allies have blamed *******, although ******* is yet to comment on his ******.

Haniyeh was ******’s most senior official and was highly involved in ceasefire and ******** release talks from his base in Qatar.

Mr Biden said he was “very concerned” about rising tensions in the Middle East. “We have the basis for a ceasefire. He [******** Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] should move on it and they [******] should move on it now.”

******* and ****** recently resumed tentative, indirect talks to try to reach a ceasefire in the war in Gaza, though there have been conflicting accounts of progress.

At the end of May, Mr Biden outlined what he said were the terms of an ******** ceasefire proposal. This has become the basis for on-off indirect negotiations between ****** and ******* since then, with Qatar, Egypt and the US acting as mediators.

Earlier this week, ******* and ****** accused each other of obstructing progress. ****** said ******* had introduced new conditions, while Mr Netanyahu’s office said ****** had demanded 29 changes to the proposal.

The war began in October when ****** carried out an unprecedented ******* on *******, ******** about 1,200 people and taking 251 others back to Gaza as hostages. The ******* triggered a massive ******** military response, which has ******* at least 39,480 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the territory’s ******-run health ministry.

Mr Biden’s comments were his first on Haniyeh’s ************** since the ****** chief was *******.

The US president spoke to journalists at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, ahead of welcoming home ********* citizens as part of

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.

He said he had spoken to Mr Netanyahu earlier on Thursday and had promised to protect ******* “against all threats from Iran”, which has vowed to retaliate. Iran is ******’s most important backer and is an arch-foe of *******.

******* has not claimed responsibility for the **************, but Mr Netanyahu said after the ******** that ******* had delivered “crushing blows” to Iran’s proxy groups in recent days.

Haniyeh’s ************** came at a time of soaring tensions in the Middle East.

On Saturday, 12 children and young people were ******* after a strike on a football field in the ********-occupied Golan Heights. ******* blamed Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement and vowed “severe” retaliation, though Hezbollah has denied involvement.

On Tuesday, hours before the ******** of Haniyeh, ******* ******* senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr, who it said was behind the ******* on the Golan Heights, in a targeted air strike in Beirut.

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#****** #chief #Haniyehs #******** #doesnt #ceasefire #talks #Biden

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