(Jerusalem) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Wednesday his country’s right “to protect itself” in the face of calls from the international community trying to prevent an Israeli response against Iran that risks leading to Middle East in a spiral of conflicts.
As negotiations for a truce in the increasingly deadly war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas in the Gaza Strip stall, Qatar said Wednesday it was “conducting a comprehensive reassessment” of its role as a leading mediator in the Gaza Strip. negotiations for a break in the fighting.
In addition to Hamas and Iran, which carried out an unprecedented attack against Israeli territory on the night of April 13 to 14, Israel is also facing fire from Lebanese Hezbollah, an ally of Tehran and the Palestinian Islamist movement.
Hezbollah announced Wednesday that it had struck a military base in northern Israel with explosive drones and missiles, in response to strikes that killed three of its fighters. Fourteen Israeli soldiers were injured, six of them seriously, according to the Israeli army.
Visiting Israel, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called on all parties to exercise “restraint.”
“I’m not talking about giving in, I’m talking about intelligent restraint,” declared the first foreign official to travel to Israel, with her British counterpart David Cameron, since the Iranian attack last weekend.
This attack, described as “legitimate and deserved” by Hamas, was followed by threats of cross reprisals between Israel and Iran, which promised a “fierce” response to any response, in a context of strong regional tensions since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, Tehran’s ally, triggered by a bloody attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement on October 7.
The Health Ministry of Hamas, the movement which took power in the Gaza Strip in 2007, on Wednesday counted 56 deaths in 24 hours across the Palestinian territory, besieged and bombarded daily by Israel which has sworn to destroy the Islamist movement , which it considers a terrorist organization, along with the United States and the European Union (EU).
This brings the death toll in the Israeli offensive, carried out in retaliation for the Hamas attack, to 33,899, most of them civilians, according to the Palestinian movement’s health ministry.
Call “to the whole world”
Israel “reserves the right to protect itself”, affirmed Benjamin Netanyahu during his meetings with the two European ministers.
Tehran claimed to have acted in self-defense by attacking Israeli territory, after a deadly strike against the Iranian consulate in Damascus on 1er April, which he attributed to Israel.
“We cannot remain idly faced with such aggression, Iran will not emerge unscathed,” promised Tuesday the spokesperson for the Israeli army, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, without specifying the form that might take place. take this response.
The United States, Israel’s staunch ally, said it did not want “an extended war with Iran” and would not participate in an Israeli response.
“Coordinated sanctions”
The White House, on the other hand, announced that it would impose “new sanctions targeting Iran, including its drone and missile programs”, its Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic, and its Ministry of Defense. defense.
The EU is also considering broadening the scope of its sanctions. Annalena Baerbock pleaded on Tuesday for new European sanctions on Iranian drones.
David Cameron on Wednesday hoped that the G7 countries, which meet on Wednesday evening in Italy, would impose “coordinated sanctions” against Iran.
Since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, tensions have been growing in the Middle East, involving Israel and Iran, enemies since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, and their respective allies.
The Islamic Republic had until now refrained from attacking Israel head-on and the two countries were used to confronting each other through third parties, such as the Yemeni Houthi rebels and Hezbollah.
The war for power
After more than six months of war in Gaza, Benjamin Netanyahu says he is determined to fight Hamas “mercilessly” and maintains his plan for a ground offensive against the city of Rafah, in the south, despite the presence of a million and a half of Palestinians.
“It is obvious that (Benjamin) Netanyahu is trying to drag the region into war to stay in power,” accused Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Wednesday, visiting Qatar.
The town of Rafah was bombed again on Tuesday evening, according to testimonies collected by AFP. “Around 10:45 p.m., an Israeli rocket hit a house of displaced people (…) The family was having dinner when an Israeli missile demolished their house above their heads,” said Sami Nyrab, a resident of Rafah.
The UN, which fears widespread famine in the territory of 2.4 million inhabitants, launched an appeal on Wednesday for donations of 2.8 billion dollars to help the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, occupied by Israel.
Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday refuted “the allegations of international organizations about a famine in Gaza” and affirmed that Israel was doing “everything possible on the humanitarian issue”.
The Israeli army announced shortly after the entry into the Gaza Strip of eight trucks carrying flour from the World Food Program via the Israeli port of Ashdod.
The war was triggered by an unprecedented attack carried out on October 7 by Hamas commandos infiltrated from Gaza in southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP report. established from 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.
reference: www.lapresse.ca