Istanbul: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani appealed on Thursday for greater international efforts to stop the Middle East conflict from escalating.
The joint appeal came as the emir, whose country has been a key mediator between Israel and Hamas, made a brief visit to Ankara to discuss the crisis after last week's killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Hamas and Iran have blamed Israel.
"President Erdogan said Israel is trying to increase tension in the region with its attacks on Palestinian territory and Lebanon, and that the international community had to take effective measures to end the Israeli aggression, which has intensified in recent days," said a statement released by Erdogan's office.
Until October 7, when Hamas launched its attack on Israel, Haniyeh divided his time between Qatar and Turkiye.
Erdogan's statement added that with the killing of the Hamas leader "Israel has once more demonstrated it has no intention of (obtaining) a ceasefire."
The October 7 Hamas attack that triggered the Gaza war resulted in the deaths of 1,198 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 39,699 people, according to the territory's health ministry, which does not give details of civilian and militant deaths.
Meanwhile, Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni asked Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to avoid escalation in the Middle East during a call, the government said in a statement on Thursday.
During the talks, Meloni "emphasised the need to prevent the expansion of the ongoing conflict in Gaza, including with reference to Lebanon, urging her counterpart to avoid further escalation and to reopen the path to dialogue," the Italian prime minister's office said.
Iran accused Israel on Thursday of wanting to spread war in the Middle East, as diplomatic efforts sought a regional de-escalation following the killings of Tehran-allied militant leaders.
Ali Bagheri, Iran's acting foreign minister, said that Israel had committed "a strategic mistake" by killing Hamas's political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week — hours after the assassination in Beirut of Hezbollah's military chief.
Although Israel has not admitted to killing Haniyeh, Iran and its allies have vowed to retaliate, setting the region on edge as the Gaza war raged on into its 11th month.
Israel seeks "to expand tension, war and conflict to other countries", but has neither "the capacity nor the strength" to fight Iran, Bagheri said.
The United States, which has sent extra warships and jets to the region, has urged both Iran and Israel to avoid an escalation.
France's President Emmanuel Macron spoke on Wednesday with his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian and later with Israel's Netanyahu, telling both to "avoid a cycle of reprisals", according to the French presidency.
Israel's military chief Herzi Halevi told troops "We are not stopping" targeting the leaders of "our most dangerous enemies", vowing to "find" and "attack" Sinwar too, according to an army statement.
Also on Wednesday, the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, meeting in the Saudi city of Jeddah, declared that Israel was "fully responsible" for Haniyeh's "heinous" killing.
Bagheri said OIC members voiced support for Iranian retaliation.
"Western countries, who claim they have asked Iran to restrict its response... are not in the position to advise the Islamic Republic of Iran." — Agencies
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