Israel-Gaza updates: IDF says officer and soldier injured in attack from Lebanon

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called his Jordanian counterpart Wednesday to discuss "the urgency of efforts to reach a ceasefire to the conflict in Gaza" and "the importance of preventing further escalation of the conflict," according to a statement from the State Department.

The statement doesn't specifically mention the Israeli strike in Lebanon or the killing of Hamas' political leader, but Jordan is viewed as a key strategic partner for maintaining stability in the Middle East by U.S. officials.

-ABC News' Shannon K. Kingston

A group representing the families of hostages held in the war-torn Gaza Strip, who were abducted from southern Israel during the Oct. 7 attacks, released a statement on Wednesday urging "the Israeli government and global leaders to decisively advance negotiations."

"This is the time for a deal," the statement said.

The statement comes amid rising tensions in the region after Hamas' political leader was killed by a predawn airstrike in the Iranian capital Tehran -- and only hours after Israel targeted a top commander for Iran's ally Hezbollah in the Lebanese capital Beirut.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Morgan Winsor

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said his country had a "duty to take revenge" after Hamas' political leader was killed in Tehran.

"However, following this bitter, tragic event which has taken place within the borders of the Islamic Republic, we believe it is our duty to take revenge," Khamenei said Wednesday.

No country or organization has yet taken credit for the assassination, but Khamenei appeared in his statement to blame Israel, saying the "criminal, terrorist Zionist regime martyred our dear guest in our territory."

-ABC News' Morgan Winsor and Kevin Shalvey

As news of the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, begins to spread on Wednesday morning, global leaders have started to react, condemning his death and calling it a “heinous assassination.”

In a statement, Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs “condemned in the strongest terms Israel’s assassination of the head of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement in Palestine (Hamas), Ismail Haniyeh, may God have mercy on him, in the Iranian capital, Tehran, in violation of international law and international humanitarian law, and an escalatory crime that will push towards more tension and chaos in the region.”

Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also condemned Haniyeh’s death, calling it a “heinous assassination” and reiterated the need to stop Israel from escalating regional tensions.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told state-owned RIA news agency that the killing of Haniyeh “is an absolutely unacceptable political murder, and it will lead to further escalation of tensions."