Russia, which has maintained close contact with the Hamas terrorist group since the start of the war, condemned on Wednesday (31) the “assassination” in Tehran of leader Ismail Haniyeh, which the militia attributed to Israel.
“We strongly condemn the assassination of the head of the political bureau of the Palestinian movement Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, as a result of a missile attack on his residence in Tehran,” Andrei Nastasin, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said at a news conference.
The Russian diplomat stressed that “there is no doubt that the assassination of Haniyeh will have a very negative impact on the progress of indirect contacts between Hamas and Israel, within the framework of which mutually acceptable conditions for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip were agreed upon.”
Moscow also calls “on all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from measures that could lead to a dramatic deterioration of the security situation in the region and provoke a large-scale armed confrontation.”
The Russian regime, led by Vladimir Putin, also condemned the Israeli attacks on Beirut, which “represent a gross violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and basic norms of international law.”
Hamas, which Russia does not recognize as a terrorist organization and with whose representatives it has held consultations in recent years in Moscow, blamed Israel for Haniyeh’s assassination and vowed that his death “will not go unpunished.”
China’s communist regime also expressed the same sentiment, condemning the “act of assassination” that ended the life of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, and warned of the possibility that this could result in an escalation of the conflict in the region.
“We pay close attention to this issue and are concerned that it will lead to escalation in the region,” said Lin Jian, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
“Disputes must be resolved through negotiations. A ceasefire in Gaza must be reached as soon as possible to avoid an escalation of the conflict,” the spokesman said.
US says “nothing negates the importance of a ceasefire”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Singapore on Wednesday (31) that nothing negates the importance of reaching a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, when commenting on the impact on the conflict of the assassination of the political leader of the Palestinian Islamic group Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh.
“I have seen the information and what I can say at this point is that there is nothing that negates the importance of achieving a ceasefire,” Blinken said during a press conference at the National University of Singapore when asked about Haniyeh’s death.
“I’m not going to speculate on the impact that any one event might have,” Blinken said, adding: “What I do know is that we will continue to work every day to prevent an escalation of the conflict.”
The US diplomat also stressed the importance of “bringing back the hostages, alleviating the suffering of the Palestinians and putting the situation on a better path not only in Gaza but in the entire region.”
“We work every minute of every day to make this happen,” he reiterated.
Hours before Blinken’s comments, who is on an official trip to Asia, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in the Philippines that the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East “is not inevitable” despite Haniyeh’s death.
“I maintain that war is not inevitable (…) There is room for diplomacy,” Austin stressed in statements to the media in the Philippine bay of Subic, the former largest US naval base abroad.
The Pentagon chief insisted, as he did the day before in Manila, that the US “is doing everything possible to avoid a major conflict” and reinforced his willingness to “lower the temperature” of tensions.
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