By Pishtaz | 2024-08-02

The United States will continue to work toward a ceasefire in Gaza, top US officials said, as regional tensions roil in the wake of the July 31 killing in Tehran of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on August 1 urged "all parties" in the Middle East to stop "escalatory actions" and achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, which the United States has been spearheading along with Egypt and Qatar.

He warned the Middle East was on a path "toward more conflict, more violence, more suffering, more insecurity, and it is crucial that we break this cycle."

"That starts with a ceasefire that we've been working on," he said.

"And to get there, it also first requires all parties to talk, to stop taking any escalatory actions; it requires them to find reasons to come to an agreement."

Blinken had previously stressed a Gaza ceasefire was the "enduring imperative" and said the United States would continue with its efforts to achieve a truce.

"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 Hizbullah, whether it's the Red Sea with the Houthis, whether it's Iran, Syria, Iraq," 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 ceasefire."

Efforts will continue

Qatar-based Haniyeh was in Iran for the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian when he was killed at a residence in northern Tehran on July 31.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said it was "too soon" to tell what impact the killings of Haniyeh in Tehran and Hizbullah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut would have on talks to reach a truce and release hostages held by Hamas.

"That doesn't mean we're going to stop working on it. We have a team in the region right now as we speak," he said.

Blinken said achieving a ceasefire was "manifestly in the interests of Palestinians who are suffering terribly 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.