BEIRUT: Hamas named Gaza Strip chief Yahya Sinwar as its new political leader on Tuesday, a week after his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh’s killing in Tehran which has sent regional tensions soaring. “The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas announces the selection of leader Yahya Sinwar as the head of the political bureau of the movement,” a statement from the group said.

Meanwhile, Hassan Nasrallah said his Hezbollah group and Iran were “obliged to respond” to the Zionist entity as the Middle East braced for the pair’s promised retaliation following high-profile killings last week. The United States said earlier it was working “around the clock” to avert an all-out war in the region, following the killings last week of Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut and Haniyeh in Tehran.

Speaking in a televised address to mark one week since Shukr’s death, Nasrallah said Tehran “finds itself obliged to respond, and the enemy is waiting in a great state of dread”. Hezbollah was also “obliged to respond”, he said, adding that it will retaliate “alone or in the context of a unified response from all the axis” of Iran-backed groups in the region, “whatever the consequences”. Minutes before his speech, Zionist jets flew low over the Lebanese capital, breaking the sound barrier.

US President Joe Biden, whose country has sent extra warships and fighter jets to the region in support of the Zionist entity, held crisis talks on Monday with his national security team. Biden called King Abdullah II of Jordan, whose country helped down Iranian drones and missiles in an attack on the Zionist entity in April. This was followed by a call with Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, whose country and Egypt have been the key intermediaries seeking a ceasefire in the 10-month Zionist-Hamas war in Gaza.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also called top officials in Qatar and Egypt. “We are engaged in intense diplomacy, pretty much around the clock, with a very simple message — all parties must refrain from escalation,” Blinken said after joining other top officials in a White House meeting. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian hit out on Monday at what he called the “criminal acts” of the Zionist entity “against the oppressed and defenseless people of Gaza”, as well as for Haniyeh’s killing.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran is in no way seeking to expand the scope of war and crisis in the region, but this regime will definitely receive the response for its crimes and arrogance,” Pezeshkian said during talks with a senior visiting Russian official, according to the official news agency IRNA. The Zionist entity has not commented on the Haniyeh killing but confirmed it killed Shukr.

Hezbollah has engaged in near-daily cross-border clashes with Zionist troops since the day after Hamas attacked the Zionist entity in early October. The group claimed several attacks on the Zionist entity on Tuesday, including one with “explosive-laden drones” targeting a barracks north of the coastal town of Acre. Regional councils in the Zionist entity urged residents to stay close to shelters on Tuesday after a barrage of rockets. In southern Lebanon, six Hezbollah fighters were killed in Zionist strikes, according to a Lebanese security source.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, on a visit to Cairo, acknowledged that there was “a possibility of a war between us and (the Zionist entity)... We can’t deny that”. A European diplomat in Tel Aviv said “a coordinated response” from Iran and its proxies was expected against the Zionist entity but de-escalation efforts persisted. “That doesn’t mean there will be a simultaneous response from all fronts,” he added, declining to be identified as he was not authorized to speak on the issue. “We’re telling them they have to stop playing with fire, because the risk of flare-ups is higher than at any time since October 7,” he said.

Numerous airlines have suspended flights to Lebanon or limited them to daylight hours. Lebanese national carrier Middle East Airlines put on extra flights for people wanting to leave or return, a company source said. — Agencies

The Jeddah-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation was to meet on Wednesday at the request of “Palestine and Iran” to discuss developments in the region, an OIC official said. The United Nations’ rights chief Volker Turk called on “all parties, along with those states with influence, to act urgently to de-escalate what has become a very precarious situation”. – Agencies