ISRAEL is on alert following arch-foe Iran threatened retaliation for an attack in Syria this month that killed two Iranian generals, and as the war once morest Hamas continues in Gaza.
Days following Israel strengthened its air defenses and suspended the leave of its combat units, the United States also warned of the risk of attacks by Iran or its allied groups at a time of rising tensions in the Middle East.
“Iran is threatening to launch a significant attack once morest Israel,” US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday, and pledged “robust” support for its regional ally despite diplomatic tensions over Israel’s military behavior in Gaza.
Israel was widely blamed for the April 1 attack that destroyed Iran’s consulate building in Damascus and killed seven Revolutionary Guardsmen, including two generals.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned on Wednesday that Israel “must be punished and will be punished”, days following one of his advisers said the Israeli embassy was “no longer safe”.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz quickly responded on social media site X that “if Iran attacks from its territory, Israel will retaliate and attack Iran”.
Also read: Facts regarding Israeli attacks on the Iranian consulate in Syria
Biden said he had told Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu that “our commitment to Israel’s security once morest threats from Iran and its proxies is rock solid”.
US Central Command chief Michael Kurilla is in Israel, to discuss the situation with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the Pentagon said.
“We have warned Iran,” Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a briefing without elaborating.
Also read: Netanyahu agrees to more talks, five Gaza residents die in food aid
During a visit to an air base in central Israel, Netanyahu spoke of “difficult times” on various fronts.
“We are in the midst of a war in Gaza that continues in full force… but we are also preparing for challenging scenarios from other arenas,” he said in comments released by his office.
Moscow called on Iran and Israel to exercise restraint.
Also read: Death toll in Israeli attacks in Syria rises to 52
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock urged “maximum restraint”, and Lufthansa said it had extended its temporary suspension of Iran flights until Saturday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said he had received telephone calls on Thursday from Baerbock as well as his British and Australian counterparts.
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Israel and the United States have long confronted Iran and its “Axis of Resistance” allies based in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
Panic among children
Regional tensions were sparked by the Gaza war that began following an unprecedented Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that left 1,170 people dead, most of them civilians, according to Israeli figures.
Palestinian militants also held around 250 people hostage, 129 of whom were still in Gaza, including 34 people the Israeli army said were killed.
Iran said it had no prior knowledge of the October attacks, but praised them.
Israeli counterattacks have killed at least 33,545 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
Hamas said 20 people were killed in Israeli bombings Thursday. It said two schools and two mosques were among the buildings affected and an imam was among the dead.
In the Nuseirat area, which was worst hit by the bombing, Imad Abu Shawish, 39, said “the situation is terrible and getting worse. The bombing has not stopped and is still happening today.”
Much of Gaza has become a bomb-strewn wasteland, and many more lives are feared buried in the rubble.
The Israeli siege has deprived Gaza’s 2.4 million residents of most of their food, water, fuel and medicine, severe shortages that can only be addressed by sporadic aid deliveries.
Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz said “Hamas has been defeated” militarily but vowed to continue fighting “what remains” in the years to come.
Israeli airstrikes killed three sons of Qatar-based Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Haniyeh stressed that their deaths would not affect Hamas’ position in ongoing talks in Cairo regarding a ceasefire agreement and hostage release.
The talks, which began Sunday, have produced no breakthrough on plans presented by US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators, which Hamas said it was studying.
The framework plan would halt fighting for six weeks and see the exchange of around 40 hostages for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, as well as more aid deliveries.
Biden said “now it’s up to Hamas, they have to follow through on the proposals that have been made”.
Israel on Thursday accused Hamas of “abandoning” what government spokesman David Mencer called a “very reasonable offer.”
Hamas official Bassem Naim said only a ceasefire might provide “enough time and security” to find Israeli hostages held across the region and confirm their fate as they are being held by different groups.
Destabilization of the Middle East
Washington has stepped up pressure on Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire, increase aid flows and cancel plans to send troops to Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah where some 1.5 million civilians have taken refuge.
Rafah is the last city in Gaza that has not faced a ground attack.
Gallant promised Israel would “flood Gaza with aid”, using Israeli crossing points, simplified checks and two new routes arranged with Jordan.
He said they expected to reach 500 aid trucks a day, the average number before the war.
However, a UN Security Council statement on Thursday said “more action must be taken to provide necessary assistance given the magnitude of needs in Gaza”.
Israel has faced much international criticism for its handling of the war.
Spain is among several Western countries, including Ireland and Australia, that have said they would recognize a Palestinian state as a starting point for broader peace negotiations.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez warned Israel’s “disproportionate response” in Gaza risked “undermining the stability of the Middle East and, as a consequence, the entire world”. (AFP/Z-3)
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