• Source:REUTERS
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Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed the ongoing conflict between Palestine and Israel, in the first telephone call between the two leaders since a China-brokered deal between Tehran and Riyadh to resume ties. According to the Iranian state media, Raisi and the Saudi crown prince discussed the "need to end war crimes against Palestine".

The Saudi Crown Prince for his part, "affirmed that the Kingdom is making all possible efforts in communicating with all international and regional parties to stop the ongoing escalation," Saudi state news agency SPA said.

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He also reiterated Saudi Arabia's opposition to any kind of civilian targeting, SPA stated.

Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to resume ties in March under a deal negotiated by China after seven years of hostility, which had threatened stability and security in the Gulf and helped fuel conflicts in the Middle East, from Yemen to Syria.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden on Wednesday warned Iran to "be careful", while he was addressing Jewish community leaders at a roundtable in the White House.

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"We moved the US carrier fleet to the eastern Mediterranean and we are sending more fighter jets to that region and made it clear to the Iranians: Be careful. When terrorist groups like Hamas, brought not only a sheer evil, sheer evil to the world, the evil that echoes the worst matches in some cases exceeds the worst atrocities of ISIS," he said.

Israeli jets have pounded Gazan targets for days in retribution for a weekend attack by Hamas militants who breached the border fence enclosing the enclave and rampaged through towns and villages, killing 1,200 people, injuring over 2,700, and taking scores of hostages, the Israeli military said.

At around 4:30 AM on Thursday, Israel's military said it was conducting a "large-scale strike" on targets belonging to Hamas in Gaza.

Biden despatched his top diplomat, Antony Blinken, to the Middle East to show Washington's enduring support for Israel, seek to secure the release of captives, including Americans, and prevent a wider war from erupting.

(With inputs from Reuters)