President Joe Biden said late Thursday night that the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Iran, on Wednesday “has not helped” as he urged all sides to move toward a ceasefire that would end the war in Gaza.
Haniyeh was killed, apparently by a hidden bomb, in a guesthouse in Tehran, where he had attended the inauguration of new Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian. Israel has not formally accepted responsibility but is widely believed to be behind the attack.
Asked how worried he was about whether the death of Haniyeh would make a ceasefire deal more difficult, Biden said that he was “very concerned.” He added that he had told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier in the day that they had “the basis for a ceasefire. He should move on it, and they should move on it now.”
Asked a follow-up question about whether the death of Haniyeh “ruined”chances for a ceasefire, Biden said “It is not helpful.”
Poor old Ismail… He was Barack’s good buddy.