UK-French ministers on joint Middle East mission

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy warned Thursday that the Middle East  risks "spiralling out of control" ahead of a visit with his French counterpart to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.

Lammy and France's foreign minister Stephane Sejourne will travel to the region amid frantic international efforts to ease mounting tensions. Sejourne made a new call for a Gaza war ceasefire when in Beirut on Thursday.

The United States has also sent a special envoy, Amos Hochstein, to the region and CIA director William Burns is at Qatar-Egypt-US mediated talks in Doha on a potential Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

But all eyes are on Iran which has vowed to avenge the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. It has blamed on Israel for the attack.

During Friday's joint visit, Lammy and Sejourne will meet with Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz and Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer.

The Anglo-French pair will "stress there is no time for delays or excuses from all parties on a ceasefire deal" in Gaza, according to Britain's foreign ministry.

They will demand all sides ease tensions "to prevent further bloodshed" and call for calm on the Israel-Lebanon border, it noted. Israeli and Hezbollah forces have fought near daily clashes on the frontier.

"France and Britain support the efforts of the American, Egyptian and Qatari mediators to achieve this. That is why we have decided to go together to Israel and to the Palestinian territories to pass these messages," said Sejourne in a statement released in Paris.

"This is a dangerous moment for the Middle East. The risk of the situation spiralling out of control is rising," Lammy, who was in the region earlier this month, said ahead of the visit.

He said any Iranian attack on Israel "would have devastating consequences for the region".

Lammy added that "all parties must engage seriously in negotiations on a ceasefire deal" in the Gaza war set off by the Hamas October 7 attacks on Israel. 

"Only with diplomacy can we end the current destructive cycle of retaliatory violence. Only with diplomacy can we deliver long-term peace and security for all. That is the message we will be taking with us to the region."

Sejourne said it was "never too late for peace" and that "we must at all costs avoid a regional war, which would have terrible consequences".

France's top diplomat urged "all parties to show restraint and responsibility", warning "any miscalculation in the current situation could provoke a generalised conflagration".

Katz's office said Thursday that the trio would discuss efforts to prevent regional escalation and to promote an agreement for the release of hostages held in Gaza.

Katz is expected to demand more international sanctions against Iran over its nuclear, missiles and drones programmes. Israel also wants Britain and France to list Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a "terrorist" group.