Killing of Hamas political leader points to diverging paths for Israel, US on cease-fire

WASHINGTON (AP) — Israel’s suspected killing of Hamas’ political leader in the heart of Tehran, coming after a week in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahupromised U.S. lawmakers he would continue his war against Hamas until “total victory,” points to an Israeli leader ever more openly at odds with Biden administration efforts to calm the region through diplomacy.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking on an Asia trip, was left to tell reporters there that Americans had not been aware of or involved in the attack on Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, whose roles included overseeing Hamas’ side in U.S.-led mediation to bring a cease-fire and release of hostages in the Gaza war.

The U.S. remains focused on a cease-fire in the 9-month-old Israeli war in Gaza “as the best way to bring the temperature down everywhere,” Blinken said after Haniyeh’s killing.

The targeting, and timing, of the overnight strike may have all but destroyed U.S. hopes for now.

“I just don’t see how a cease-fire is feasible right now with the assassination of the person you would have been negotiating with,” said Vali Nasr, a former U.S. diplomat now at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.

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