Egyptian, Lebanese FMs hold talks in Cairo amid Middle East tensions

Leaders in Egypt and Lebanon are exhausting all avenues possible to prevent Israel’s war in Gaza from becoming a wider regional conflict, the Egyptian and Lebanon ministers said Tuesday at a joint press conference.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said de-escalation efforts were "ongoing and intensive."

"I contacted the U.S. Secretary of State more than three times within a very short period. I also repeatedly contacted the Acting Foreign Minister of Iran three times. We communicated with the Russian Federation's Foreign Minister, and today, there is a call with the Chinese Foreign Minister. There have also been contacts made by Prime Minister Najib Mikati and my brother, Minister Bou Habib," said Abdelatt.

Abdelatty also urged the international community to "exert all efforts and apply all forms of pressure to prioritize dialogue and negotiations." He added there needs to be a move away from military options and violence in order to avoid "chaos in the region and the world.“

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdullah Bo Habib echoed his counterparts statements, saying that a regional war will become "a serious possibility" if the international community does not do more to "stop the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip."

Bo Habib added that they "do not want any war" and urged any response " not be collective or strong enough to lead us into a wide scale war."

Both ministers said they discussed important regional issues during their meeting this week, including combating and ways to reduce tensions in the region, especially ones emerging from Israel’s war in Gaza.

Both countries share the same vision in achieving a ceasefire in Gaza and rejected recent assassinations in the region, including that of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

World leaders say they are exhausting all possible avenues to prevent the war from becoming a wider regional conflict after the killings of a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon and Hamas’ top political leader in Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet over the weekend that Israel is already in a “multi-front war” with Iran and its proxies.