WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden said on Thursday the killing of Palestinian Islamist group Hamas’ leader Ismail Haniyeh was not helpful for reaching a ceasefire in Israel’s war in Gaza.
There has been an increased risk of an escalation into a broader Middle East war after the assassination of Haniyeh in Iran drew threats of retaliation against Israel.
Hamas and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards confirmed the death of Haniyeh, who had participated in internationally-brokered indirect talks on reaching a ceasefire in Gaza.
Anxious residents in Israeli-besieged Gaza feared that Haniyeh’s killing on Wednesday would prolong the war.
Iran said the killing took place hours after he attended a swearing-in ceremony for its new president.
“It doesn’t help,” Biden told reporters late on Thursday, when asked if Haniyeh’s assassination ruined the chances for a ceasefire agreement.
Biden also said he had a direct conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier on Thursday.
Netanyahu’s government has issued no claim of responsibility but he has said Israel had delivered crushing blows to Iran’s proxies of late, including Hamas and Lebanon-based Hezbollah, and would respond forcefully to any attack.
Israel’s tensions with Iran and Hezbollah have fanned fears of a widened conflict in a region already on edge amid Israel’s assault on Gaza which has killed tens of thousands and caused a humanitarian crisis.
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7 when Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
The Gaza health ministry says that since then Israel’s military assault on the Hamas-governed enclave has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians while also displacing nearly the entire population of 2.3 million, causing a hunger crisis and leading to genocide accusations that Israel denies.
The United States has said it was not involved in the killing of Haniyeh.
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Biden says killing of Hamas leader Haniyeh not helpful for ceasefire talks
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Biden says killing of Hamas leader Haniyeh not helpful for ceasefire talks
- There has been an increased risk of an escalation into a broader Middle East war after the assassination of Haniyeh in Iran drew threats of retaliation against Israel
Interoceanic Train derails in southern Mexico, killing at least 13 and injuring dozens
- he Interoceanic Train linking the states of Oaxaca and Veracruz went off the rails Sunday as it passed a curve near the town of Nizanda
- Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum says 13 people died and another 98 people were injured when a train derailed
MEXICO CITY: Officials said a train accident in southern Mexico killed at least 13 people and injured dozens, halting traffic along a rail line connecting the Pacific Ocean with the Gulf of Mexico.
The Interoceanic Train linking the states of Oaxaca and Veracruz went off the rails Sunday as it passed a curve near the town of Nizanda.
“The Mexican Navy has informed me that, tragically, 13 people died in the Interoceanic Train accident,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum posted on X, adding that 98 people are injured, five of them seriously.
She said she instructed the secretary of the navy and the undersecretary of human rights of the Ministry of the Interior to travel to the site and personally assist the families.
In a message on X Sunday, Oaxaca state Gov. Salomon Jara said several government agencies had reached the site of the accident to assist the injured.
Officials said that 241 passengers and nine crew members were on the train when the accident occurred.
The Interoceanic Train was inaugurated in 2023 by then President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. The rail service is part of a broader push to boost train travel in southern Mexico, and develop infrastructure along the isthmus of Tehuantepec, a narrow stretch of land between the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.
The Mexican government plans to turn the isthmus into a strategic corridor for international trade, with ports and rail lines that can connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The Interoceanic train currently runs from the port of Salina Cruz on the Pacific Ocean to Coatzacoalcos, covering a distance of approximately 180 miles (290 kilometers).
The Interoceanic Train linking the states of Oaxaca and Veracruz went off the rails Sunday as it passed a curve near the town of Nizanda.
“The Mexican Navy has informed me that, tragically, 13 people died in the Interoceanic Train accident,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum posted on X, adding that 98 people are injured, five of them seriously.
She said she instructed the secretary of the navy and the undersecretary of human rights of the Ministry of the Interior to travel to the site and personally assist the families.
In a message on X Sunday, Oaxaca state Gov. Salomon Jara said several government agencies had reached the site of the accident to assist the injured.
Officials said that 241 passengers and nine crew members were on the train when the accident occurred.
The Interoceanic Train was inaugurated in 2023 by then President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. The rail service is part of a broader push to boost train travel in southern Mexico, and develop infrastructure along the isthmus of Tehuantepec, a narrow stretch of land between the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.
The Mexican government plans to turn the isthmus into a strategic corridor for international trade, with ports and rail lines that can connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The Interoceanic train currently runs from the port of Salina Cruz on the Pacific Ocean to Coatzacoalcos, covering a distance of approximately 180 miles (290 kilometers).
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