U.S.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in a phone call on Friday that the escalation of tensions in the Middle East was &in no party&s interest& while also stressing the need for a Gaza ceasefire, the State Department said.There has been an increased risk of escalation into a broader Middle East war after recent killings of Palestinian Islamist group Hamas& leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and of Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut drew threats of retaliation against Israel, Reuters reported.As a result, many fear a widening of Israel&s war in Gaza that has already killed tens of thousands and caused a humanitarian crisis, following Hamas& Oct.

7 attack on Israel.&The Secretary reaffirmed the United States& ironclad commitment to Israel&s security and discussed how escalation is in no party&s interest,& the State Department said in a statement.Blinken stressed the &urgent need to reach a ceasefire in Gaza& that could release hostages held in the enclave and &create the conditions for broader regional stability,& the State Department added.A day earlier, Gallant spoke to U.S.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin about the situation in the region, read the report.The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct.

7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.The Gaza health ministry says that since then Israel&s military assault on the Hamas-governed enclave has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians while also displacing nearly the entire population of 2.3 million, causing a hunger crisis and leading to genocide accusations that Israel denies.President Joe Biden laid out a three-phase ceasefire proposal in an address on May 31.

Washington and regional mediators have since tried arranging the Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal but have consistently run into obstacles.The post US tells Israel that escalations in Middle East serve no one first appeared on Ariana News.