No Gains in Middle East Tensions: G7 Foreign Ministers

Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Jolie and her G7 counterparts issued a joint statement calling for de-escalation of tensions in the Middle East.

The Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States issued a statement together with the High Representative of the European Union.

The statement, published Sunday by Global Affairs Canada, said the ministers expressed “deep concern about the escalation of tensions in the Middle East, which threatens to ignite a broader conflict in the region.”

He calls on all parties to refrain from retaliatory violence, saying: “No country or nation will gain from further escalation in the Middle East.”

Fears of a regional war breaking out in the Middle East are growing following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s attack, but suspicion quickly fell on Israel, which threatened to kill Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders for the group’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 4, 2024.

With files from Associated Press