Kissinger's final warning: Statesman said Israel's war with Hamas could engulf the Arab world and that the international order was in danger in October interview

Legendary diplomat Henry Kissinger, who died Wednesday at the age of 100, was still seen as influential on the world stage, giving some his final remarks on the Israel-Hamas war.

Speaking on German television just days after the shock attack that killed over 1,200 Israelis, he said that there needed to be 'some penalty' for Hamas' 'open act of aggression' when asked what should be done in response to the attack.

'Of course, the first instinct is to bring back peace but you can't make concessions to people who have declared and demonstrated by their actions that they cannot make peace.' 

In what is believed to be his final interview, he added that the slaughter could end up bringing the rest of the Arab world into the fighting. 

'The Middle East conflict has the danger of escalating and bringing in other Arab countries under the pressure of their public opinion,' Kissinger said, citing Egypt and Syria attacking Israel during the Yom Kippur War in 1973.

Kissinger, who served under two presidents and was considered a giant in foreign policy circles, called both Hamas' attack and the Russian war on Ukraine a 'fundamental attack on the international system.' 

The German-born diplomat also said it was 'painful' to see people celebrating the attack in Berlin shortly after the killings, according to Politico. 

Kissinger, the foreign policy behemoth throughout Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford's presidencies, passed away at his home in Connecticut, his consulting firm said.

In a statement, Kissinger Associates announced: 'Henry Kissinger, a respected American scholar and statesman, died today at his home in Connecticut.'   

Despite being over 100 years old, he still attended meetings in the White House, published a book on leadership styles, and testified before a Senate committee about the nuclear threat posed by North Korea.

In July 2023 he made a surprise visit to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.

In the 1970s, he had a hand in many of the epoch-changing global events of the decade while serving as secretary of state under Republican Richard Nixon - and Kissinger was hailed for his brilliance and broad experience during his diplomatic years.

The German-born Jewish refugee's efforts led to the diplomatic opening of China, landmark U.S.-Soviet arms control talks, expanded ties between Israel and its Arab neighbors, and the Paris Peace Accords with North Vietnam.

Kissinger's reign as the prime architect of U.S. foreign policy waned with Nixon's resignation in 1974. 

Still, he continued to be a diplomatic force under President Gerald Ford and to offer strong opinions throughout the rest of his life - and was active in politics past his 100th birthday in May this year. 

On October 11 this year, he even weighed in on the current conflict in Israel and Gaza. He said that European cities, like Berlin, hosting pro-Palestine rallies showed that Germany had let too many foreigners into the country.

In his last interview just shy of two months ago, Kissinger told Germany's Welt TV: 'It was a grave mistake to let in so many people of totally different culture and religion and concepts, because it creates a pressure group inside each country that does that.' 

He said that it was 'painful' to see people in Berlin celebrating Hamas' October 7 assault on Israel.

Kissinger divorced his first wife, Ann Fleischer, in 1964, before marrying Nancy Maginnes, an aide to New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, in 1974. 

He had two children by his first wife. 

Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973 with North Vietnam's Le Duc Tho - but it was one of the most controversial in the award's history. 

They were selected for their work on the Paris peace talks, which were to have arranged the withdrawal of U.S. troops, a ceasefire, and preservation of the South Vietnamese government. 

Two members of the Nobel committee resigned over the choice and Tho declined the prize on the grounds their work had not yet brought peace. 

In 1973, in addition to his role as national security adviser, Kissinger was named secretary of state - giving him unchallenged authority in foreign affairs.

An intensifying Arab-Israeli conflict launched Kissinger on his first so-called 'shuttle' mission, a brand of highly personal, high-pressure diplomacy for which he became famous.

Thirty-two days spent shuttling between Jerusalem and Damascus helped Kissinger forge a long-lasting disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

In an effort to diminish Soviet influence, Kissinger reached out to its chief communist rival, China, and made two trips there, including a secret one to meet with Premier Zhou Enlai. 

The result was Nixon's historic summit in Beijing with Chairman Mao Zedong and the eventual formalization of relations between the two countries. 

Born Heinz Alfred Kissinger in May 1923, he moved to the United States with his family in 1938 before the Nazi campaign to exterminate European Jews.

Anglicizing his name to Henry, Kissinger became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1943. 

The Kissingers settled in Washington Heights on Manhattan's Upper West Side, and he enrolled in the local public high school. 

He served in the Army in Europe in World War Two, and went to Harvard University on scholarship - earning a master's degree in 1952 and a doctorate in 1954. 

He was on Harvard's faculty for the next 17 years.

Kissinger last worked in a presidential administration in 1977 but he maintained a relationship with George W. Bush. 

The then-president chose Kissinger to head a commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks but he stepped down because he did not want to reveal the names of the clients of his consulting business.