Unequivocally condemning in the strongest terms Iran's direct and unprecedented attack against Israel, the G-7 leaders on Sunday said the development risks provoking an uncontrollable regional escalation even as permanent members of the UN Security Council announced to convene an emergency meeting on the issues in New York. With its actions, Iran has further stepped toward the destabilisation of the region and risks provoking an uncontrollable regional escalation. This must be avoided. We will continue to work to stabilise the situation and avoid further escalation, G-7 leaders said in a joint statement after a conference call among them initiated by President Joe Biden. The US assisted Israel in shooting down dozens of drones and missiles fired by Iran in its first direct military assault on the former. Israeli authorities said 99 per cent of the inbound weapons were shot down without causing any significant damage. In this spirit, we demand that Iran and its proxies cease their .
Iran launched the attack over a suspected Israeli strike on its embassy compound in Syria on April 1 that killed top Revolutionary Guards commanders
: The US destroyed more than 80 UAVs and at least six ballistic missiles launched by Iran at Israel, the Pentagon said Sunday. This includes a ballistic missile on its launcher vehicle and seven UAVs destroyed on the ground in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen prior to their launch, the US Central Command said. Iran fired more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel, which Tehran said was in response to the April 1 strike on its consulate in Syria. Almost all Iranian drones and missiles were shot down by Israeli, US and allied forces before they reached their targets. On Saturday and Sunday morning, US CENTCOM forces, supported by US European Command destroyers, successfully engaged and destroyed more than 80 one-way attack uncrewed aerial vehicles (OWA UAV) and at least six ballistic missiles intended to strike Israel from Iran and Yemen, the media note said. Iran's continued unprecedented, malign, and reckless behaviour endangers regional stability and the safety of U.S. and coali
Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel on Saturday night in response to a suspected Israel attack on Iran's Syria consulate on April 1
Meanwhile, in a stern warning for Israel's closest ally, Iran asked the US to stay away from the ongoing conflict with Israel
The heightened tensions follow Tehran's accusation against Israel regarding an airstrike on a diplomatic building in Damascus, Syria on April 2, which killed its top military officials
US President Joe Biden called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's handling of the war in Gaza a mistake and called for his government to flood Gaza with aid, ramping up pressure on Israel to reach a cease-fire and widening a rift between the two staunch allies that has worsened as the war has dragged on. Biden has been an outspoken supporter of Israel's war against Hamas since the militant group launched a deadly assault on October 7. But in recent weeks his patience with Netanyahu has appeared to be waning and his administration has taken a more stern line with Israel, rattling the countries' decades-old alliance and deepening Israel's international isolation over the war. Biden's most recent comments, made in an interview that aired late Tuesday after being recorded last week, highlight the differences between Israel and the US over humanitarian aid to people in Gaza, where a monthslong war has led to warnings of imminent famine. What he's doing is a mistake. I don't agree with hi
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has escalated his pledge to invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which is filled with around 1.4 million Palestinians, most of whom are displaced from other parts of the Gaza Strip. It will happen. There is a date, Netanyahu said in a video statement Monday, without elaborating. The United States, Israel's closest ally, has said a ground operation into Rafah would be a mistake and has demanded to see a credible plan to protect civilians. Netanyahu spoke as Israeli negotiators are in Cairo discussing international efforts to broker a cease-fire deal with the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Israeli troops withdrew Sunday from Khan Younis, another city in southern Gaza, ending a key phase of the war. Defense officials say they're regrouping ahead of a push into Rafah. Palestinians who visited Khan Younis on Monday said the city is now unlivable, offering them little immediate chance to return. Many have been sheltering in Rafah. The ...
Israelis have been expressing increasing dissatisfaction with Netanyahu's management of the ongoing conflict, and the release of the hostages who have been held in Gaza since October 7
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"The 98th Commando Division has concluded its mission in Khan Yunis," the army said in a statement. "The division left the Gaza Strip in order to recuperate and prepare for future operations."
Washington is Israel's top weapons supplier and the Biden administration has mostly provided a diplomatic shield for it at the United Nations
Outraged over the killing of seven foreign nationals in an Israel strike, the White House has squarely blamed Israel and sternly asked it to stop casualties in its war against Hamas
An Israeli airstrike destroyed the consular section of Iran's embassy in Syria, killing a senior Iranian military adviser and several others, Syrian officials and state media said on Monday. The strike appears to signify an escalation of Israel's targeting of Iranian military officials and their allies in Syria, which have intensified since Hamas militants - who are supported by Iran - attacked Israel on October 7. Israel, which rarely acknowledges such strikes, said it had no comment. The attack killed Iranian military adviser Gen. Ali Reza Zahdi, who led the elite Quds Force in Lebanon and Syria until 2016, according to the Iranian Arabic-language state television channel Al-Alam and pan-Arab television station Al-Mayadeen, which has reporters in Syria. Iranian Ambassador Hossein Akbari condemned Israel and said as many as seven people were killed. First responders were still searching for bodies under the rubble. Akbari said two police officers who guard the building were ...
Netanyahu has promised to "immediately act to close Al Jazeera" after the law is passed
Tens of thousands of Israelis gathered outside the parliament building in Jerusalem on Sunday in the largest anti-government demonstration since the country went to war in October. They urged the government to reach a deal to free dozens of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and to hold early elections. Nearly six months of war have renewed divisions in Israeli society. The Hamas militant group killed some 1,200 people during its cross-border attack on October 7, and took 250 others hostage. Roughly half the hostages were released during a weeklong cease-fire in November, but repeated attempts by international mediators to broker another cease-fire deal have failed. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas and bring all the hostages home. But those goals have been elusive. While Hamas has suffered heavy losses, it remains intact, and hostages' families believe time is running out. After six months, it seems like the government understands that Bibi Netanyahu is an ..
Hamas has rejected the latest cease-fire proposal, accusing Israel of ignoring its core demands, which include an end to the war and a full withdrawal from Gaza. In a statement late Monday, the militant group said it had informed mediators that it was sticking to its original position, conveyed earlier in March. It said Israel had not responded to its core demands of a comprehensive cease-fire, an (Israeli) withdrawal from the Strip, the return of displaced people and a real prisoner exchange. The statement came shortly after the United Nations Security Council approved a resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire and the release of all hostages held in Gaza. The vote provoked a clash between Israel and the United States, which decided not to use its veto power Monday. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled a high-level delegation's planned visit to Washington. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected Hamas' demands, calling them delusion
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has canceled a planned visit to Washington by a high-level delegation to protest Monday's U.N. Security Council decision calling for an immediate cease-fire. The resolution passed 14-0 after the U.S. decided not to use its veto power and instead abstained. Netanyahu accused the U.S. of retreating from what he said had been a principled position by allowing the vote to pass without conditioning the cease-fire on the release of hostages held by Hamas. The Israeli delegation was to present White House officials with plans for an expected ground invasion of the strategic Gaza town of Rafah, where over 1 million Palestinian civilians have sought shelter from the war.
Israel is determined to launch a ground offensive against Hamas in Rafah, Gaza's southernmost town, a plan that has raised global alarm because of the potential for harm to the hundreds of thousands of civilians sheltering there. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel can't achieve its goal of total victory against Hamas without tackling Rafah. Israel has approved military plans for its offensive. But with 1.4 million Palestinians jammed into the town, Israel's allies, including the US, have demanded greater care for civilians in its anticipated incursion. Most of those Palestinians have been displaced by fighting in other parts of Gaza and are living in densely packed tent camps or crammed into apartments. Netanyahu is sending a delegation to Washington to present the administration with its plans. WHY RAFAH IS SO CRITICAL Since Israel declared war in response to Hamas' deadly cross-border attack on October 7, Netanyahu has said a central goal is to destroy the Islamic gr
US President Joe Biden has told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he is deeply concerned about the prospect of Israel conducting major military operations in Rafah on the lines of those in Gaza City and Khan Younis, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said. During his telephonic conversation with Biden on Monday, Netanyahu agreed to send an inter-agency team of Israeli officials to Washington to hold discussions on an alternative approach to target key Hamas elements in the southern Gaza city of Rafah and secure the Egypt-Gaza border without a major ground invasion, Sullivan said at his daily press conference on Monday. This was the first time in a month that the two leaders spoke on phone. Sullivan said Biden and Netanyahu spoke at length about Rafah. "The President explained why he is so deeply concerned about the prospect of Israel conducting major military operations in Rafah of the kind it conducted in Gaza City and Khan Younis," the NSA said. More than a