LONDON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Israel's assault on Gaza will fuel extremism in the region.

"The effect of war is more dangerous than war ... sowing seeds of extremism and terror around the region," Assad said in an interview with the BBC broadcast on Wednesday.

The Palestinian death toll has risen to 984, Gaza officials said, since Israel began its attack on December 27 with the declared aim of ending rocket attacks on Israel from Hamas-run Gaza.

Assad said arms smuggling to Palestinians in Gaza from Egypt should be stopped but was not a necessary condition for an immediate end to hostilities, a summary of the interview on the BBC website said.

Syria, which hosts exiled leaders of the Islamist militant movement, was doing everything it could to bring about a ceasefire, he said.

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