WILMINGTON, Delaware/RAMALLAH: US President Joe Biden expressed hope that Iran would withdraw its forces despite threats of retaliation for the assassination of a Hamas leader in Tehran, amid concerns that Israel's war with Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip could escalate into a wider Middle East conflict.
Tensions in the region have spiked after the assassination of senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday, a day after an Israeli strike in Beirut killed Fouad Shukr, a top military commander from Lebanon's Hezbollah group, which, like Hamas, is backed by Iran.
Iran and Hamas blamed Israel for Haniyeh's killing, and they, along with Hezbollah, vowed revenge. Israel has neither claimed nor denied responsibility.
When asked by reporters whether Iran would withdraw, Biden said Saturday: “I hope so. I don’t know.”
The US Defense Department said Friday it will send additional Navy fighter jets and warships to the region to bolster defenses in the Middle East in response to threats from Israel's enemies.
Haniyeh's death is one of a series of high-profile killings by Hamas as the Gaza war nears its 11th month and raises concerns that the conflict in Gaza is spiraling into a wider Middle East war.
Hamas said it had launched a “wide consultation process” to select a new leader three days after the assassination of Haniyeh, the face of the group’s international diplomacy.
The United States and international allies including France, Britain, Italy and Egypt continued diplomatic contact Saturday in an effort to prevent further escalation of tensions in the region.
The US has urged its citizens wishing to leave Lebanon to start making plans immediately, while the UK government has advised its citizens to “leave Lebanon now”, while Canada has warned its citizens to avoid all travel to Israel, saying the region's armed conflict poses a security threat.
Violence in Gaza and the West Bank
Violence continued Saturday in the Palestinian territories.
An Israeli air strike on a school housing displaced people in Gaza City killed at least 15 Palestinians on Saturday, hours after two attacks in the occupied West Bank killed nine militants, including a local Hamas commander, Hamas said.
The Israeli military said the first of two airstrikes in the West Bank targeted a vehicle in a town near Tul Karm, targeting a militant group the military said was heading to carry out an attack.
A Hamas statement said one of the dead was a commander of its Tul Karm brigade, while the Islamic Jihad Alliance claimed the other four killed in the attack were its fighters.
Hours later, a second airstrike in the area targeted another terrorist group that opened fire on soldiers, the Israeli military said during what it described as a counter-terrorism operation in the town of Tul Karm.
The Palestinian WAFA news agency said four people were killed in the attack, and Hamas said all nine of the nine killed in two Israeli attacks in the West Bank were fighters.
At least 39,550 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip, according to Gaza health officials. The attacks began with a Hamas-led offensive on southern Israel on Oct. 7 that left 1,200 people dead and 250 kidnapped, according to Israeli counts.
A high-ranking Israeli delegation made a brief visit to Cairo on Saturday to try to revive ceasefire talks in the Gaza Strip, an Egyptian airport source said. Israeli media reported that the Israeli officials returned to Israel hours later.
The chances of progress appear low after recent events in Lebanon and Iran.
Israel has not said whether it was behind Haniyeh's assassination, but Netanyahu said earlier this week that Israel had launched more aggressive attacks on Iranian proxy groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah.
