Washington
\nUS President Joe Biden met his senior national security team on Monday as concerns of a possible Iranian retaliatory attack on Israel grew.
\nMr Biden said he had been briefed on preparations to support Israel should it be attacked, while Secretary of State Antony Blinken said officials were working \u201caround the clock\u201d to prevent an escalation.
\nTensions have risen over the last week following the assassination of Hamas\u2019 political leader Ismail Haniyeh, for which Iran has blamed Israel and vowed \u201csevere\u201d retaliation. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the assassination.
\nNumerous countries, including the US and UK, have also told their citizens to leave Lebanon, from where it is feared Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia and political movement, could play a role in any response.
\nDuring Monday\u2019s briefing, Mr Biden was told the timing and nature of an Iranian attack remained unclear, according to US news site Axios. A day earlier, Mr Blinken reportedly told his G7 counterparts that Iran and Hezbollah could attack Israel within 24 to 48 hours.
\nIn a statement released after the briefing, Mr Biden said: \u201cWe received updates on threats posed by Iran and its proxies, diplomatic efforts to de-escalate regional tensions, and preparations to support Israel should it be attacked again.\u201d
\nHe added that steps were being taken to respond to attacks on US forces \u201cin a manner and place of our choosing\u201d. On Monday, several US personnel were injured in a suspected rocket attack on a US military base in Iraq.
\nSpeaking to reporters earlier in the day, Mr Blinken said officials were \u201cengaged in intense diplomacy pretty much around the clock with a very simple message: All parties must refrain from escalation\u201d.
\n\u201cEscalation is not in anyone\u2019s interests. It will only lead to more conflict, more violence, more insecurity,\u201d he said.
\nHe added that a ceasefire would \u201cunlock possibilities for more enduring calm not only in Gaza itself, but in other areas where the conflict can spread\u201d.
\n\u201cIt is urgent that all parties make the right choices in the hours and days ahead,\u201d he said.
\nEarlier in the day, Mr Biden spoke to King Abdullah II of Jordan about \u201cefforts to de-escalate regional tensions, including through an immediate ceasefire and hostage release deal\u201d, a statement from the White House said.
\nA joint statement from the G7 also expressed \u201cdeep concern at the heightened level of tension in the Middle East which threatens to ignite a broader conflict in the region\u201d.
\n\u201cNo country or nation stands to gain from a further escalation in the Middle East,\u201d it said.
\nTalks that had brought renewed hope of a ceasefire deal to end the conflict in Gaza have faltered following the events of recent weeks.
\nOn 27 July, 12 children and teenagers were killed in a strike on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Israel accused Hezbollah of carrying out the strike, though Hezbollah denied any involvement.
\nDays later, Fuad Shukr, a senior Hezbollah military commander, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a suburb of the Lebanese capital, Beirut. Four others, including two children, were also killed.
\nHours later, Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran.
\nIran\u2019s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Haniyeh was killed in a \u201cstrong blast\u201d caused by a \u201cshort-range projectile\u201d fired from outside a house where he was staying while visiting the capital, Tehran.
\nPalestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in an interview with Russian state news agency RIA Novosti that the killing would have a \u201cnegative impact on the ongoing negotiations\u201d.
\nIsrael has not commented on the assassination, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said afterwards that Israel had delivered \u201ccrushing blows\u201d to Iran\u2019s proxy groups in recent days.
\nFollowing the killings in Lebanon and Iran, the IRGC said Israel would receive a \u201csevere punishment at the appropriate time, place and manner\u201d, while Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the conflict had entered a \u201cnew phase\u201d.
\nIt is the closest the conflict has come to escalation since April, when Iran fired some 300 drones and missiles at Israel in response to an Israeli strike on an Iranian consulate in Syria that killed a number of senior military commanders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington US President Joe Biden met his senior national security team on Monday as concerns of a possible Iranian retaliatory attack on Israel grew. Mr Biden said he had been briefed on preparations to support Israel should it be attacked, while Secretary of State Antony Blinken said officials were working \u201caround the clock\u201d to prevent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":423313,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-423293","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n