No sane voice can argue against the importance of an immediate cessation of the war in Gaza, Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, said yesterday.

“There is a need to end the cycle of violence, regional escalation, and the logic of aggression and response, while acknowledging the failure of the policy of containing and postponing the establishment of an independent Palestinian state,” Gargash said in a post on X.

The Emirati official stressed that “there is no alternative to a real path that guarantees the Palestinian people self-determination and breaks the cycle of instability in the region.”

His comments come as fears of a broader regional war are rising after a series of Israeli assassinations that targeted senior resistance figures, the most prominent of which was the assassination of the head of Hamas’s political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran, and Hezbollah leader, Fuad Shukr, in Lebanon. Tel Aviv has claimed responsibility for Shukr’s death but has not commented on Haniyeh’s assassination.

On 31 July, after Haniyeh was killed, Gargash said the serious developments and events taking place in the region from Beirut to Tehran were “very worrying”.

“The escalation and reckless reactions without the slightest regard for laws governing relations and sovereignty of states complicate the situation and increase the risk of instability,” he warned.