Global calls for ceasefire grow after assassinations in Mideast

Jerusalem: United States President Joe Biden says he’s “very concerned” that the violence in the Middle East could escalate, adding that the killing of a top Hamas leader in Iran has “not helped” efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.

Biden said he’d had a “very direct” conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday. “We have the basis for a cease-fire. He should move on it and they should move on it now.”

The assassinations of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday and senior Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur in Beirut on Tuesday risks escalating the fighting into an all-out regional war, with Iran also threatening to respond after the attack on its territory.

Israel has vowed to kill Hamas leaders over the group’s October 7 attack on Israel that sparked the war.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was among the growing voices internationally calling for a ceasefire in recent days, saying that it was the only way to begin to break the cycle of violence and suffering.

French minister seeks greater security for Jewish communities as tensions escalate

France’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin on Friday called for increased security measures to protect Jewish communities across the country amid escalating tensions in the Middle East.

“The risk of action is real,” Darmanin said in a note to national and local law enforcement agencies.

He requested greater security around places frequented by Jewish people in France, particularly places of worship and other gatherings for religious services.

Darmanin specifically mentioned the “many Israeli citizens” in France at the time of the Paris Olympics in need of protection as tensions flare up following the assassination of top Hamas and Hezbollah leaders in Tehran and in

Beirut.