Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Aati stressed to his acting Iranian counterpart Ali Bagheri Kani, on Saturday, the necessity of containing the escalation in the region and avoiding the risks of expanding the scope of the current conflict as a result of the war on the Gaza Strip.

This came during a phone call, the third within 48 hours, between Kenny and the foreign ministers of Egypt and Qatar, who are mediating efforts to reach an agreement to end the war on Gaza.

These contacts coincide with intensive international efforts to prevent escalation in the region, in light of Iran and Hezbollah’s threats to respond to the assassination of Hamas’s political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh and party leader Fouad Shukr, last July.

According to a statement by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, Abdel-Ati and Kani's call today came "within the framework of intensive Egyptian efforts aimed at containing the escalation witnessed in the region, and ensuring continuous communication with all active regional and international parties to reduce the tension witnessed in the region."

The statement added that during the phone call, "Egyptian efforts to cease fire in Gaza were discussed," and the Egyptian minister stressed that "the international community has become more aware than ever of the necessity of stopping the war and completing a hostage and prisoner exchange deal."

Abdel-Ati also stressed the "importance of working to contain any escalation in the region due to the war in Gaza, and the necessity of avoiding the risks of expanding the scope of the current conflict, which will only lead to more instability and threaten regional and international peace and security."

The Egyptian Minister reviewed "the regional and international contacts that Egypt is conducting to achieve this goal, in a way that serves all the peoples of the region," stressing that "there is an Egyptian interest in stopping the escalation."

For his part, Kani expressed, during the phone call, his "appreciation for the current Egyptian efforts and the responsibility that Egypt bears to stop the war in Gaza and calm things down," according to a statement from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

On Thursday and Friday, Kenny received two phone calls from Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, which included an emphasis on the need for calm and de-escalation in the region.

A new round of talks on ways to end the war on Gaza concluded in Doha on Friday, with the mediators (Egypt, Qatar and the United States) announcing that Washington had presented a new proposal to reduce the gaps between Israel and Hamas, revealing further talks in Cairo before the end of next week to move forward with efforts to reach an agreement.

Washington, which is talking about the talks proceeding in a "positive atmosphere," hopes that reaching an agreement between Hamas and Israel to stop the war and exchange prisoners will help dissuade Iran and Hezbollah from responding to the assassination of Shukr in Beirut and Haniyeh in Tehran, through two attacks, the first of which was claimed by Israel, while responsibility was placed on it for the second.