THE Middle East was poised for wider war today as tensions between Israel and countries it has attacked approaching boiling point.

US ally Jordan was reportedly seeking to dissuade Iran from retaliating to the murder in its capital of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, with whom Israel was supposedly negotiating a Gaza ceasefire.

Hezbollah, one of whose commanders was killed in an Israeli bombing of the Lebanese capital Beirut, fired two drones at an Israeli military base in response to recent “attacks and assassinations,” with two Israeli soldiers wounded, according to the Israeli Defence Forces.

Global powers despatched envoys to the region, with the Pentagon saying the head of US Central Command, General Eric Kurilla, was in the Middle East, though not disclosing where.

Russian Security Council secretary Sergei Shoigu, until recently defence minister, landed in Iran for discussion of “bilateral and international issues.”

Iran’s Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani said the primary cause of instability in the Middle East was the UN security council’s refusal to rein Israel in.

His remarks, emphasising Iran’s right to respond to the killing of Haniyeh on its territory, followed Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani saying “punishing Israel is necessary” since unless its lawless acts had consequences they would merely escalate. Iran has vowed to respond to the assassination with “power and decisiveness.”

US sources claimed Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned G7 member states today that Washington anticipated an Iranian or Hezbollah attack on Israel as early as yesterday evening. The US has moved 12 warships and 4,000 marines to the area, and multiple countries including Britain have issued urgent advice to their nationals to leave Lebanon.

In Israel, opposition leader Yair Lapid accused the government of “waiting to be bombed,” claiming it was not doing enough to deter Iranian or Hezbollah revenge attacks.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant briefed air force chiefs that Israel needed to be ready for a “swift transition to offence,” while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said on Sunday he already considered the country to be at war on multiple fronts, not just in Gaza.