Macron, Jordan king urge avoiding ME escalation ‘at all costs’

PARIS: France’s Emmanuel Macron and Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Sunday said a military escalation in the Middle East must be avoided “at all costs” during a telephone call, the French presidency said.

Fears that the almost 10-month-old Gaza war could become a regional conflict have spiked as Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah have vowed to avenge deadly strikes on Beirut and Tehran blamed on Israel.

Macron and King Abdullah “expressed their utmost concern” and “underlined the need to avoid a regional military escalation at all costs”, according to the Elysee’s readout of their call. “They called on all the parties to end the cycle of reprisals, exercise the utmost restraint and responsibility to guarantee the security of the populations.”

Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh died in a strike on Tehran on Wednesday that Iran blamed on Israel, hours after the Israeli assassination of Hezbollah’s military chief Fuad Shukr in Beirut.