Iran, U.S. wary of conflict escalation in Mideast, but tensions high

Iran and the U.S. have both said they don't want tensions in the Middle East to escalate after Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in a suspected Israeli attack in Tehran, but recent developments from Lebanon to Iraq have further destabilized the region.

"Iran seeks to establish stability in the region, but this will only come with punishing the aggressor and creating deterrence against the adventurism of the Zionist regime (Israel)," said Nasser Kanaani, Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson, on Monday, adding that action from Tehran was inevitable.

Tehran and Iran-aligned groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah have accused Israel of killing Haniyeh on July 31 in the Iranian capital. His death was one in a series of killings of senior Hamas figures as the war in Gaza between Hamas and Israel nears its 11th month.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied the allegation.

The Biden administration, in the meantime, said it was working around the clock to avoid all-out war in the region.

U.S. President Joe Biden called King Abdullah II of Jordan, which helped down Iranian drones and missiles in an earlier showdown in April, while U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called top officials in Qatar and Egypt, the key intermediaries seeking a ceasefire in Gaza war.

On Monday, multiple U.S. personnel were injured in a rocket attack on a base in Iraq, adding to the already heightened regional tensions.

Biden had been hoping in his final months in office to end the Gaza war and work on clinching a landmark deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Instead, he has boosted the U.S. military presence in the Middle East in a show of strength to Iran.

Also on Monday, Israel said it had killed Ali Jamal Aldin Jawad, a Hezbollah commander, in a strike on Lebanon. This came just days after it killed Hezbollah's senior commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut, threatening a fiercer response from the Lebanese group.

Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in intensifying clashes since October 8.

Faltering talks

Talks on a ceasefire deal in Gaza have become more urgent after the ratcheting up of regional tensions over the past week. 

Efforts by the United States, Egypt and Qatar to secure the deal had gained momentum over July but have since ground to a near halt after new terms were introduced to an agreed framework presented by Washington in May.

The framework involves three phases, with the first seeing a six-week ceasefire and the release of women, elderly and wounded hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

But sources have told Reuters a new Israeli condition that displaced Palestinians should be screened as they return to the enclave's north when the ceasefire begins was among the sticking points.

The killing of Haniyeh has further complicated matters, though Hamas has not shut the door entirely on negotiators.

"We will continue to apply military pressure on Hamas and its senior figures, until the return of all of our hostages and achieving all of the war goals," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said.

Netanyahu is facing anger in Israel and abroad over his handling of the talks. While the prime minister insists the release of hostages held by Hamas is his top priority, some have voiced the concern that he is not sincere.

Bodies returned

Israel returned the bodies of more than 80 Palestinians killed in its military offensive in the Gaza Strip, as Israeli airstrikes killed at least 18 more people on Monday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.

Yamen Abu Suleiman, the director of the Palestinian Civil Emergency Service in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, said it was unclear whether the bodies had been dug up from cemeteries by the army during the ground offensive, or whether they were "detainees who had been tortured and killed."

"The occupation provided us with no information about the names, or ages, or anything. This is a war crime, a crime against humanity," Abu Suleiman said.

He said the bodies would be examined in an attempt to determine the causes of death and to identify them, before being buried in a mass grave at a cemetery near Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the return of the bodies. In the past, Israel has said it returned bodies after checks they were not Israeli hostages who had been held by Hamas since the October 7 attack on Israel.

(With input from Reuters, AFP)