“There is no doubt that the purpose of Haniyeh’s assassination is to prolong the war and expand its scope,” Abbas told Russia’s RIA state news agency in an interview published Tuesday.
“It will have a negative impact on the ongoing negotiations to end the aggression and withdraw Israeli troops from Gaza,” he added.
Abbas also called on Israel to stop its “aggressive actions” against the Palestinian people and comply with international law and implement the Arab Peace Initiative, which offers Israel the opportunity to normalize relations with its Middle East neighbors in exchange for the liberation of the occupied Palestinian territories.
Ismail Haniyeh, the political bureau chief of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, was assassinated in Tehran on July 31, a day after attending the inaugural ceremony of President Masoud Pezeshkian.
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