US not involved in death of top Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, Antony Blinken says
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the White House said Wednesday that America was not involved with the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, or even aware it was happening.
Blinken urged Hamas mediators to accept a Gaza cease-fire deal with Israel and avoid an all-out war in the region — as White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby insisted it’s possible that Haniyeh’s death would not impact a pending US-backed peace plan.
Speaking with Channel News Asia on Wednesday, Blinken stressed that the airstrike that killed Haniyeh in Tehran “is something we were not aware of or involved in.”
Iran quickly blamed Israel for the strike and vowed retaliation — though Israeli officials have not claimed responsibility.
Blinken’s statement comes after Iran and Palestinian officials, who have vowed revenge for Haniyeh’s death, said the US was also to blame over its continued support of Israel in the war against Hamas.
The secretary said it was difficult “to speculate” what Haniyeh’s death would mean to the ongoing cease-fire negotiations, as many fear it will trigger further war and chaos in the region.
Kirby said at the regular White House briefing that “I am not in a position to confirm the reports coming out of Tehran.”
“I’ve seen the statement that Hamas put out. I can’t confirm or verify it. We have no independent confirmation,” Kirby said.
“It’s too soon to know, based on the reporting over the last 24-48 hours, what impact any of this is going to have on the cease-fire deal,” he added.
When pressed by a journalist, Kirby clarified, “These reports over the last 24 hours certainly don’t help with the temperature going down.”
The proposed cease-fire plan, accepted in principle by Israel, calls for Israeli troops to pull out of the Gaza Strip before militarily defeating Hamas in response to the Oct. 7 attacks that killed about 1,200 people.
Experts have questioned whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seriously pursuing the plan or biding his time to see if staunchly pro-Israel former President Donald Trump defeats Vice President Kamala Harris in the Nov. 5 election.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who recently met with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, did not rule out a broader war as a possible result of Haniyeh’s death.
“We don’t want war but we are preparing for all possibilities,” Gallant said.
Hamas put out a similar statement, with senior official Khalil Al-Hayya claiming it did not want the war in Gaza to spread to the whole region, but warning Israel that Haniyeh’s killing is a “crime that should be punished.”
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, whose government has been leading the cease-fire negotiations, warned that Haniyeh’s killing will only hamper efforts to end the war in Gaza and free the remaining hostages.
“Political assassinations & continued targeting of civilians in Gaza while talks continue leads us to ask, how can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side?” the prime minister said in a statement.
Blinken, however, said mediators needed to push Israel and Hamas to accept the US-backed peace deal in order to avoid further bloodshed and free the hostages.
“It’s profoundly in the interest of putting things in a better path,” he said. “We’ll continue to work at that every day.”
Officials in the United Arab Emirates, a major power in the Middle East, echoed the need to settle things between Israel and Hamas through diplomacy, lest the entire region be thrown into instability.
“[We are] closely monitoring the rapid regional developments and expresses its deep concern over the continued escalation and its repercussions on security and stability in the region,” the UAE Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“[Our country] believes that enhancing dialogue, adhering to international laws, and respecting the sovereignty of states are the best foundations for resolving current crises,” it added.
