Washington CNN —The White House on Wednesday said reports of the assassination of a Hamas political leader in Iran “don’t help with the temperature going down,” while repeating calls for a ceasefire deal that would see the release of hostages held by Hamas. “These reports over the last 24-48 hours certainly don’t help with the temperature going down. I’m not going to be Pollyannaish about it; we’re obviously concerned about escalation,” White House national security communications adviser John Kirby told reporters during the White House press briefing. In both conversations, according to the State Department, the officials emphasized the need for a ceasefire in Gaza. “It’s too soon to know what impact any of this is going to have on the ceasefire deal,” Kirby said at the briefing.

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