Blinken, after Haniyeh's death: "Nothing nullifies the importance of achieving a ceasefire"

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken assured this Wednesday from Singapore that "nothing nullifies the importance of achieving a ceasefire" in Gaza, regarding the impact on the conflict of the elimination of the political leader of the Islamic terrorist group. Palestinian Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh.

"I have seen the information and what I can say right now is that nothing nullifies the importance of achieving a ceasefire," Blinken stressed during a conference at the National University of Singapore, when asked about Haniyeh's death.

"I am not going to speculate on the impact that any event may have," Blinken said, adding: "what I know is that we will continue to work every day" on the ceasefire and on "preventing an escalation of the conflict."

The Palestinian Islamic terrorist group Hamas confirmed this Wednesday the death of its leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran, where he was on an official visit, accused Israel, and threatened that "it will not go unpunished."

“We are working from day one to prevent an escalation of the conflict,” Blinken said, insisting that “one of the keys to ensuring this does not happen is achieving a ceasefire.”

The head of American diplomacy stressed the importance of "bringing the hostages back, alleviating the suffering of the Palestinians and putting the situation on a better path not only in Gaza, but in the entire region."

"We work every minute of every day for this to happen," he reiterated.

Hours before Blinken's comments, who is on tour in Asia, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin defended from the Philippines that the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East "is not inevitable" despite the death of Haniyeh.

"I maintain that war is not inevitable (...) There is room for diplomacy," Austin said in statements to the media in the Philippine bay of Subic, the former largest US naval base abroad. Aurora and EFE