New York: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday denounced strikes on Beirut and Tehran as a "dangerous escalation," after Israel targeted a top Hezbollah commander in Lebanon and Hamas said its political chief was killed in Iran.

"The scretary-general believes that the attacks we have seen in South Beirut and Tehran represent a dangerous escalation at a moment in which all efforts should instead be leading to a ceasefire in Gaza" and "the release of all Israeli hostages," spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

• Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran
• Woman killed, others injured in Israeli raid on southern suburb of Beirut

US says strikes on Tehran, Beirut 'don't help' tensions

An Israeli strike that killed a Hezbollah commander in Beirut and the killing of the political leader of Hamas in Tehran "don't help" regional tensions but there are no signs of an imminent wider conflict, the White House said on Wednesday.

"These reports over the last 24, 48 hours certainly don't help with the temperature going down," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters when asked about the attacks.

"We're obviously concerned about escalation."

Kirby downplayed the risk of an immediate descent into the all-out war that the region has feared since Hamas's October 7 attacks on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza.
"We don't really think that an escalation is inevitable and there's no signs that an escalation is imminent," he said.

But he said Washington was carefully monitoring developments.

"It's not like we're brushing off concerns at all. We're watching this very, very closely and it's been a chief concern of the president," said Kirby.

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