(Jerusalem) Israel has promised “a response” to the massive and unprecedented attack launched by Iran, despite calls from around the world, including the United States, to avoid an escalation in the Middle East already shaken by the war in the Gaza Strip.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raïssi once again warned on Tuesday that “the slightest action” by Israel against “Iran’s interests” would provoke “a severe, widespread and painful response” from his country.
Iran for the first time launched a direct attack against Israel, its archenemy, overnight from Saturday to Sunday, in retaliation for a strike against the Iranian consulate in Damascus on 1er April, attributed to Israel, which killed seven members of the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic.
Israel will “retaliate against the launch of so many cruise missiles and drones on the territory of the State of Israel,” declared Monday evening the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army, General Herzi Halevi, in visiting the Nevatim base in the south of the country, hit by a strike.
“Whenever we choose”
“We will do whatever is necessary to protect the State of Israel, and we will do so on the occasion and at the time we choose,” said army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari. , also present on the base.
Since Sunday, calls have been increasing to prevent a massive response which could further inflame the region, already “on the edge of the precipice”, according to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
Israel announced that it had intercepted, with the help of the United States and other allied countries including France and the United Kingdom, but also Jordan and Saudi Arabia, almost all of the 350 drones and missiles launched by Iran against its territory. The defensive operation was named “Iron Shield”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday called on the international community to “remain united” in the face of “Iranian aggression, which threatens world peace.”
But after standing up with its allies against the Iranian attack, the United States said it did not want “an extended war with Iran” and warned that it would not participate in a retaliatory operation, while displaying their “unwavering” support for Israel.
The United Kingdom and France have also distanced themselves.
“Together, with our partners, we defeated this attack” by Iran, US President Joe Biden declared on Monday. He called on Israel to avoid a regional escalation and to work for a “ceasefire” associated with the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli army has been carrying out a deadly offensive against the Gaza Strip for more than six months. Hamas.
“Will to restrain”
Since the start of the war on October 7 in the Palestinian territory, tensions have continued to worsen in the Middle East, involving Israel and Iran, enemies since the Iranian revolution of 1979, and their respective allies.
The Islamic Republic, which calls for the destruction of Israel, has until now refrained from attacking it head-on and the two countries were used to confronting each other through third parties, such as Lebanese Hezbollah and the Yemeni rebels. Houthis, allies of Iran.
Iran affirmed that the operation against Israel had been carried out “successfully” and said it considered “the matter closed”. President Raïssi declared that his country had targeted, “by exercising its right to self-defense”, the “centers” where the bombing of the consulate in Damascus was organized.
In this context, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke on the telephone with his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday, specifying that Tehran had expressed its “desire for restraint”.
“Stop the world for Gaza”
Meanwhile, the war knows no respite in the Gaza Strip, bombarded during the night from Monday to Tuesday. The Israeli army had affirmed that the Iranian attack would not deviate from its objectives against Hamas, Iran’s ally.
The Islamist movement continues to demand a definitive ceasefire, while Benjamin Netanyahu maintains his plan for a land offensive against the town of Rafah, in the south of the territory, which he presents as the last great bastion of Hamas and where, according to the army, hostages are being held.
The international community fears a bloodbath in this border town with Egypt, which has become a refuge for a million and a half Palestinians, most of them displaced.
The Israeli army announced on Tuesday that it had continued its operations in the center of the Gaza Strip and had killed “terrorists who were advancing towards them” with tank fire. Fighter jets destroyed a missile launcher as well as dozens of “tunnels and military bases where Hamas terrorists were located,” according to the army.
The war was triggered by an unprecedented attack carried out on October 7 by Hamas on Israeli soil from Gaza, which left 1,170 dead, mostly civilians, according to an AFP report based on official Israeli data. More than 250 people have been kidnapped and 129 remain held in Gaza, 34 of whom have died according to Israeli officials.
In retaliation, Israel promised to destroy Hamas, in power in Gaza since 2007, which it considers a terrorist organization along with the United States and the European Union. Its army launched an offensive that has so far left 33,797 people dead in the Palestinian territory, according to the Hamas health ministry.
On Monday in the United States, pro-Palestinian demonstrators blocked the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco’s iconic bridge, and unfurled a banner bearing the words “Stop the world for Gaza”, as part of an action that aims to block many major cities around the world.
reference: www.lapresse.ca