U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken takes part in a conversation with former Singapore ambassador Chan Heng Chee at the Asian Civilisation Museum in Singapore on July 31, 2024. (Credit: Roslan Rahman/AFP)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that a cease-fire in Gaza was "imperative" after the killing of Hamas's political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran.
Blinken refused to comment directly on the killing of Haniyeh but said at a forum in Singapore that reaching a cease-fire in Gaza "is the enduring imperative".
"We've been working from day one not only to try to get to a better place in Gaza but also to prevent the conflict from spreading, whether it's the north with Lebanon and Hezbollah, whether it's the Red Sea with the Houthis, whether it's Iran, Syria, Iraq, you name it," Blinken said.
"A big key to trying to make sure that that doesn't happen, and that we can move to a better place, is getting the cease-fire."
Haniyeh was attending the inauguration of Iran's new president when he was killed by an Israeli air strike, Hamas said Wednesday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas in retaliation for its Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza.
Hamas blamed Israel and vowed the "cowardly" killing of their veteran leader "will not go unanswered".
The Oct. 7 attacks resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Militants also seized 251 hostages, 111 of whom are still held captive in Gaza, including 39 the military says are dead.
Israel's retaliatory campaign against Hamas has killed at least 39,400 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, which does not provide details on civilian and militant deaths.
Blinken said achieving a cease-fire was "manifestly in the interests of the hostages and bringing them home, it's manifestly in the interests of Palestinians who are suffering every single day, children, women, men in Gaza".
"... it's profoundly in the interest of trying to put things on a better path not only in Gaza but actually throughout the region because so much is tied to what's happening in Gaza right now," he said.
Blinken refused to comment directly on the killing of Haniyeh but said at a forum in Singapore that reaching a cease-fire in Gaza "is the enduring imperative".
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