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In an interview with the Al Jazeera satellite channel at the time, he said the killings would not pressure Hamas into softening its positions amid ongoing ceasefire negotiations with Israel.
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The killing of Haniyeh comes after Israel carried out a rare strike on Beirut, which it said killed Fuad Shukr, known also as “Sayyid Muhsan”, a top Hezbollah military commander. Hezbollah has not confirmed Shukur’s death in the strike, which also killed at least one woman and two children and wounded dozens of people.
The strike came amid escalating hostilities with the Lebanese militant group. The United States blames Shukur for planning and launching the deadly 1983 marine bombing in the Lebanese capital.
There was no immediate reaction from the White House to Haniyeh’s death. The apparent assassination comes at a precarious time, as the Biden administration is trying to push Hamas and Israel to agree to at least a temporary ceasefire and hostage-release deal.
CIA Director Bill Burns was in Rome on Sunday to meet senior Israel, Qatari and Egyptian officials in the latest round of talks. Separately, Brett McGurk, the White House Co-ordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, is in the region for talks with US partners.
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Israel is suspected of running a years-long assassination campaign targeting Iranian nuclear scientists and others associated with its atomic program. In 2020, a top Iranian military nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was killed by a remote-controlled machine gun while travelling in a car outside Tehran.
In Israel’s war against Hamas since the October attack, more than 39,360 Palestinians have been killed and more than 90,900 wounded, according to the Gaza health ministry, whose count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants
More to come
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