President Joe Biden on Thursday criticized the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh for setting back ceasefire talks between Israel and the terrorist group amid growing concerns of the war spilling over into a wider regional conflict.
The Wednesday assassination of Haniyeh in the Iranian capital of Tehran "doesn't help" negotiations on a hostage-ceasefire deal, Biden told reporters late on Thursday as he and Vice President Kamala Harris greeted Americans freed from Russia in a large-scale prisoner swap. The president has faced mounting criticism for his support of a ceasefire, which puts into question his support for one of Washington's strongest allies. The octogenarian added that he is "very concerned" about a potential escalation of the war in Gaza.
While Israel has neither claimed nor denied responsibility for detonating a bomb planted in advance at the Hamas chief’s residence in Tehran, Hamas and Iran have blamed the Jewish state for the assassination and vowed revenge.
The killing of Haniyeh, a top negotiator for the terrorist group who smiled as he watched the Oct. 7 attack unfold, came just hours after Israel’s elimination of Hezbollah’s most senior military commander, Fuad Shukr, which the Israeli military said was a response to a Hezbollah rocket attack days earlier that killed 12 children and teens in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Biden also said he had a "very direct" conversation with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urging the Israeli leader to push for a ceasefire while affirming U.S. support for Israel in the case of an escalated conflict with Iran.
Biden discussed with Netanyahu "new defensive U.S. military deployments" and "reaffirmed his commitment to Israel’s security against all threats from Iran, including its proxy terrorist groups Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis," according to a White House transcript of the phone call.
Netanyahu, meanwhile, has said Israel "will exact a very heavy price from any aggression against us on any front."