Killing of Hamas leader intended to prolong Gaza conflict, Abbas tells RIA news agency

 Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas attends the World Economic 

Forum (WEF) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, April 28, 2024.

 REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo

Updated
Aug 06, 2024

The killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was intended to prolong the conflict in Gaza and will complicate talks on resolving the crisis, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told Russia's RIA state news agency in remarks published on Tuesday.

"There is no doubt that the purpose of Mr. Haniyeh's assassination is to prolong the war and expand its scope," RIA cited Abbas as saying.

"It will have a negative impact on the ongoing negotiations to end the aggression and withdraw Israeli troops from Gaza."

Haniyeh was assassinated in the Iranian capital Tehran last week, an attack that drew threats of revenge on Israel and fuelled concern that the conflict in Gaza was turning into a wider Middle East war.

"We consider this a cowardly act and a dangerous development in Israeli politics," Abbas said in remarks published in Russian by the RIA agency.

"The Israeli occupation authorities are required to abandon their ambitions and stop their aggressive actions against our people and our cause, to comply with international law and implement the Arab Peace Initiative, as well as an immediate and lasting ceasefire and withdrawal from the Gaza Strip." REUTERS