The US says it aims to ‘turn down the heat’ in the Middle East

The US aims to “turn down the heat” in the Middle East, the country’s ambassador to the UN said, after Iran rejected calls from the West to stop retaliating against Israel for the killing of a Hamas leader last month.

On Tuesday, Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the UN Security Council in New York that the US wants to “prevent and defend against any future attacks and avoid regional conflicts”.

His comments came as the US stepped up its efforts to reach a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Asked by a reporter whether reaching such an agreement would help Iran attack Israel, US President Joe Biden said: “That’s what I expect, but we’ll see.”

“We’ll see what Iran does and we’ll see what happens if there’s an attack, but I’m not giving up,” he said, as he stepped off his plane during a visit to New Orleans, Louisiana on Tuesday.

A new round of ceasefire talks is planned either Doha or Cairo on Thursday.

But Hamas chief Ahmad Abdul Hadi is reported to have said that Hamas will not participate in the talks, according to reports in the New York Times and Sky News.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has postponed plans to travel to the Middle East on Tuesday to take part in talks to end the war in Gaza.

International mediators from the US, Egypt and Qatar have been seeking a ceasefire that would see Israeli hostages released to their families and Palestinian civilians return home.

Meanwhile, Washington has also approved the shipment of $20bn (£15.5bn) worth of weapons to Israel – these weapons will take years to reach Israel.

At a meeting of the Security Council in New York, Ms Thomas-Greenfield called for a ceasefire agreement to be concluded.

“Regional wide conflict is inevitable,” he said.

“The overall goal of the United States is to lower the temperature in the region, prevent and defend against any future attacks, and avoid regional conflicts,” he added.

“That starts with concluding an immediate ceasefire with the release of hostages in Gaza. We need to end this at the finish line.”

But the Palestinian ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour, accused the Security Council of not doing enough to stop Israeli military operations in Gaza.

“Wake up, stop making excuses. Stop thinking that you can negotiate with the Israeli government to stop killing civilians by the thousands, starving them, torturing prisoners, occupying our land for colonization, beg them, call them, they want them to stop,” said Mr. Mansour.

Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan said that Hamas has used civilians as a target for people in Gaza.

Israel launched a military operation in Gaza to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented attack in southern Israel on October 7, in which approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 captured.

More than 39,920 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the area.

Hundreds of people have also been killed in almost daily clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces across the Israel-Lebanon border since the beginning of the conflict.

In the midst of international negotiations to end tensions, Iran on Monday anonymous calls from the UK and other Western countries to avoid retaliation against Israel for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

Israel, which has not claimed responsibility for Haniyeh’s killing, has currently put its military on the highest level of alert.

The US has warned that it is preparing for a “significant attack” by Iran or its proxies as soon as this week, and is building up its military presence in the Middle East to help protect Israel.