Calling the twin strikes by Israel killing senior leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah during a 24-hour period a “dangerous escalation”, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for an international diplomatic push to prevent a broader regional conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The international community must work together to urgently prevent any actions that could push the entire Middle East over the edge, with a devastating impact on civilians,” the UN chief’s Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an audacious strike inside Iran on Wednesday during his visit for the swearing-in of newly-elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, according to Hamas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A short while earlier, Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr was killed in an air strike in Beirut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The Secretary-General believes that the attacks we have seen in South Beirut and Tehran represent a dangerous escalation at a moment in which all efforts should instead be leading to a ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all Israeli hostages, a massive increase of humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza and a return to calm in Lebanon and across the Blue Line that separates Lebanon from Israel,” Dujarric said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Guterres has been calling for maximum restraint, it alone is not enough “at this extremely sensitive time” and he “urges all to vigorously work towards regional de-escalation”, the spokesperson added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iran’s UN Mission warned of an escalation, saying in an X post: “The response to an assassination will indeed be special operations — harder and intended to instill deep regret in the perpetrator.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Israel military confirmed it had taken out Shukr, Israel was silent on the killing of Haniyeh, a serious setback to ceasefire efforts in Gaza because the Qatar-based leader was a key negotiator with Israel for a ceasefire and the return of hostages taken by Hamas during the October 7 attack. AGENCIES<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Calling the twin strikes by Israel killing senior leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah during a 24-hour period a “dangerous escalation”, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for an international diplomatic push to prevent a broader regional conflict. “The international community must work together to urgently prevent any actions that could push the entire Middle East […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[87],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n