NEW YORK, August 6. /TASS/. The assassination of the head of the political bureau of the Palestinian movement Hamas Ismail Haniyeh in Iran sends a clear message that there will be no ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as long as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in power, US journalist Seymour Hersh said in his blog at the Substack website.

"The Israeli assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran <…> was a clear message that there will be no ceasefire in Gaza, as long as Netanyahu is in power," he believes. Hersh notes that Netanyahu "has been the one resisting a ceasefire there, despite pressure - or rather, pleading - from the Biden White House."

Hersh stresses that one of the causes of the Middle East crisis was "the failed foreign policies of President Joe Biden" and namely his "inability to understand the recklessness and depravity of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose hatred of Palestinians has now brought the Middle East and America to the brink of a war."

According to Hersh, the aggravation of the crisis was not only Biden’s fault but also of the US lawmakers who "routinely vote to send billions of dollars to support a corrupt and failing government in Ukraine and similarly approve the bombs and tank shells supplied to Israel for use in Gaza."

The situation in the Middle East has escalated sharply after militants of the radical Palestinian movement Hamas entered Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, accompanied by the killing of residents of border settlements and the taking of hostages. The situation has escalated dramatically once again after the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah senior commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut. Hamas and Hezbollah blamed Israel for the killings and warned of their reaction.