The United States has increased pressure on Netanyahu to agree to a peace truce in the Middle East.
Palestinian territories:
Israel was on alert on Thursday after arch-enemy Iran threatened retaliation for an attack in Syria this month that killed two Iranian generals and a war against Hamas in Gaza.
Days after Israel beefed up its air defenses and suspended combat troops from taking leave, the United States also warned of possible attacks by Iran or its allies amid rising tensions in the Middle East.
U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that Iran was “threatening a major attack against Israel” and pledged “irresistible” support for its largest regional ally, despite diplomatic tensions over Israel’s military actions in Gaza.
Israel has been widely blamed for the April 1 attack that destroyed the Iranian consulate building in Damascus and killed seven Revolutionary Guards personnel, including two generals.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned on Wednesday that Israel “must and will be punished”, days after one of his advisers said the Israeli embassy was “no longer safe”.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz quickly responded on the social media site X, saying that “if Iran launches an attack from its territory, Israel will respond and attack Iran.”
Biden said he had told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that “our commitment to Israel’s security and defense against these threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad.”
The Pentagon said U.S. Central Command Commander Michael Kurila was in Israel on Thursday to discuss the situation with Defense Secretary Yoav Galante.
“We warned Iran,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told a news conference, without elaborating.
The U.S. Embassy in Israel also announced that it would restrict the movement of its diplomats due to security concerns, saying that “out of an abundance of caution” staff and their families would not be allowed to travel in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Bersheeva For personal travel outside the area, “attention until further notice”.
Netanyahu spoke of “challenging times” on multiple fronts during a visit to an air base in central Israel.
“We are in the midst of a war in Gaza that is still in full swing… but we are also preparing for challenges in other areas,” he said in comments issued by his office.
Moscow called on Iran and Israel to exercise restraint.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock urged “maximum restraint” and Lufthansa said it had extended a temporary suspension of Iranian flights until Saturday.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdullahian said he received calls from Belbok on Thursday, as well as his British and Australian counterparts.
He said in a post on ..necessary”.
Israel and the United States have long been at odds with Iran and its so-called “axis of resistance” allies in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
“The situation is serious”
Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, killing 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli data, and the war in Gaza stoked regional tensions.
Palestinian militants also took about 250 hostages, 129 of whom remain in Gaza, and 34 of whom the Israeli army said were dead.
Iran said it had no prior knowledge of the October attack but welcomed it.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 33,545 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-controlled region’s health ministry.
Hamas said Israeli bombings killed 20 people on Thursday. It is said that two schools and two mosques were among the buildings attacked, and an imam was among the dead.
“The situation is very serious and getting worse. The bombing has not stopped and is still going on,” said Imad Abu Shawish, 39, in the bomb-hit Nuserat region. It’s happening.”
Much of Gaza has been reduced to a cratered wasteland with more bodies beneath the rubble.
The Israeli siege has deprived Gaza’s 2.4 million people of much of their food, water, fuel and medicine, with only sporadic aid deliveries easing dire shortages.
Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s war cabinet, said on Wednesday that Hamas was “defeated” militarily but pledged to continue fighting “remnants” in the coming years.
An Israeli airstrike on Wednesday killed three sons of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Qatar.
Haniyeh insisted their deaths would not affect Hamas’s position in ongoing negotiations in Cairo for a truce and a hostage release deal.
Those talks began on Sunday, but there has been no breakthrough on a plan proposed by U.S., Qatari and Egyptian mediators, which Hamas said it was studying.
The framework plan would have halted fighting for six weeks, exchanged some 40 hostages for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, and shipped more aid.
“Now it’s up to Hamas to take action on the proposals that have been made,” Biden said.
Israel accused Hamas on Thursday of “abandoning” what government spokesman David Menser called “very reasonable proposals that were on the table.”
Hamas official Bassem Naim said only a ceasefire would provide “sufficient time and security” to find Israeli hostages held across the territory and determine their fate, as they are being held by different groups.
“Destabilizing the Middle East”
Washington has stepped up pressure on Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire, increase aid flows and abandon plans to send troops to Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, where some 1.5 million civilians have taken refuge.
Rafah is the last city in Gaza that has not yet faced a ground invasion.
Galante pledged that Israel would provide “substantial assistance to Gaza” using Israeli crossings, simplified inspections and two new routes organized in partnership with Jordan.
He said they expected 500 rescue trucks a day, which was the pre-war average.
However, a statement from the United Nations Security Council on Thursday said that “given the scale of needs in Gaza, additional measures should be taken to provide the relief needed”.
Israel has faced unanimous international criticism for its handling of the war.
Spain is one of several Western countries, including Ireland and Australia, that have said they would recognize a Palestinian state as a starting point for wider peace talks.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez warned that Israel’s “disproportionate response” in Gaza could “destabilize the Middle East and therefore the entire world.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
