Israel's foreign minister called on Tuesday to "swiftly eliminate" Yahya Sinwar, who was appointed by Hamas as the group's new political leader replacing Ismail Haniyeh who was killed in Tehran last week.

"The appointment of arch-terrorist Yahya Sinwar as the new leader of Hamas, replacing Ismail Haniyeh, is yet another compelling reason to swiftly eliminate him and wipe this vile organisation off the face of the Earth," Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a statement on social media site X.

This comes at volatile moment. Fears are high of an escalation into a wider regional war, with Iran vowing revenge against Israel over Haniyeh's killing and Lebanon's Hezbollah threatening to retaliate over Israel's killing of one of its top commanders in an airstrike in Beirut last week.

Meanwhile, US , Egyptian and Qatari mediators are trying to salvage negotiations over a cease-fire and hostage release deal in Gaza, shaken by Haniyeh' killing.