Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to fight any impending US sanction on the Israeli military amid a slump in bilateral ties following the Israeli military onslaught in the Gaza Strip.
President Joe Biden’s administration is expected to sanction a unit of the Israeli military after a ProPublica investigation claimed that the State Department sat for months on evidence of serious human rights abuses.
The investigation published on Wednesday revealed that an internal State Department investigation had, months ago, identified several Israeli police and military units facing credible accusations of violating human rights, including allegations of torture.
Meanwhile, an Al Jazeera has reported bodies being recovered from a mass grave inside the Nasser Medical Complex in Gaza’s Khan Younis.
“In the hospital courtyard, civil defence members and paramedics have retrieved 180 bodies buried in this mass grave by the Israeli military. The bodies include elderly women, children and young men,” the outlet reported, quoting its reporter and Palestinian emergency services from Khan Younis.
It comes as the head of Israel’s military intelligence, Major General Aharon Haliva, announced his resignation this morning for his failure to handle the Hamas attack on 7 October.
Key Points
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US expected to sanction IDF unit over alleged human rights abuses
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Israel’s military intelligence chief quits over 7 October Hamas attack
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At least 180 bodies recovered from mass grave – report
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Rockets fired from Iraq towards US military base in Syria, security sources say
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Iran’s supreme leader tacitly acknowledges that Tehran hit little in its attack on Israel
Baby saved from womb of mother killed in Israeli strike
10:45 , Tom Watling
A baby girl has been safely delivered from the womb of a Palestinian woman killed alongside her husband and daughter in an Israeli attack in the Gaza city of Rafah.
A total of 19 people were killed in the strikes on Sunday (21 April), including 13 children from one family, Palestinian health officials said.
The baby, weighing 1.4 kg and delivered in an emergency C-section, is stable and improving gradually, said Mohammed Salama, a doctor caring for her.
Her mother, Sabreen Al-Sakani, had been 30 weeks pregnant.
The baby was placed in an incubator in a Rafah hospital alongside another infant, with the words “The baby of the martyr Sabreen Al-Sakani” written on tape across her chest.
Baby saved from womb of mother killed in Israeli strike
Major General Aharon Haliva’s resignation letter in full
10:30 , Tom Watling
Below we have the resignation letter of Major General Aharon Haliva. The head of Israel’s military intelligence announced he was stepping down earlier this morning.
“Over 38 years ago, I entered the gates of the Jewish Community and enlisted in the army. I went through stations and many positions on the fighting front and I always did, as much as I could, to serve the people of Israel,” he wrote.
“Throughout my positions, I knew that along with authority there was also a heavy responsibility: for the task, for the people, for success and failure.
“On Saturday 7 October 2023, Hamas carried out a murderous surprise attack against the state of Israel, whose consequences are difficult and painful.
“The intelligence division under my command did not live up to the task we were entrusted with. I carry that black day with me ever since, day after day, night after night. I will carry the pain with me forever.
“Since the war broke out, the women and men of the army have been working, regularly and in reserve, together to achieve the goals of war. The excellent people, in all ranks and positions, did and are doing as much as possible, and many times even beyond that, for the scrutiny of the State of Israel and its future. I am proud of them and I appreciate them immensely.
“At the beginning of the war, I expressed my desire to accept responsibility and finish my duties. Now, after more than six months, and at the same time as the investigations begin, I would like to end my position.
“Until the end of my shift, I will do everything for the defeat of Hamas and those who want to harm us and the work for the return of the captives and the missing to their homes and land.”
Netanyahu vows to fight any US sanctions on Israeli military over human rights violations
10:15 , Tom Watling
Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will fight against sanctions being imposed on any Israeli military units, with reports that an Israeli army battalion could face punishment from Washington over its treatment of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
“If anyone thinks they can impose sanctions on a unit of the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] – I will fight it with all my strength,” the Israeli prime minister said in a statement.
Netanyahu vows to fight any US sanctions on Israeli military unit
Israel’s military intelligence chief quits over 7 October Hamas attack
10:00 , Tom Watling
The head of Israel‘s military intelligence has resigned over the failures surrounding the 7 October terror attack by Hamas – becoming the first senior figure to step down.
Major General Aharon Haliva’s resignation could set the stage for more fallout from Israel’s top security brass over the attack, when Hamas blasted through Israel’s border defenses, rampaged through Israeli communities unchallenged for hours and killed around 1,200 people, while taking roughly 250 hostages into Gaza. That attack set off the war against Hamas in Gaza, now in its seventh month.
Israel’s military intelligence chief quits over 7 October Hamas attack
3 wounded in ‘ramming terror attack’ in Jerusalem
09:45 , Tom Watling
Three people have been wounded in Jerusalem after a vehicle hit them on a street, Israeli police have said.
The pedestrians were hit at 8am local time in what police described as a “ramming terror attack”.
Two people emerged from the car holding weapons after the incident and then discarded them as they fled the scene on foot. The police said that they had failed to open fire before running away.
The Shaarey Zedek Medical Center said it admitted a 21-year-old man and a 15-year-old boy for mild injuries following the attack.
Can Iran win an economic war of attrition against Israel?
09:30 , Tom Watling
As the world holds its breath in the face of escalating violence in the Middle East, this conflict could come down to which country is best positioned to deal with sanctions, writes Mark Almond
Can Iran win an economic war of attrition against Israel? | Mark Almond
Israeli military intelligence head resigns
09:15 , Tom Watling
The head of Israeli military intelligence, Major General Aharon Haliva, has resigned and will leave once a successor is appointed, the military said in a statement on Monday.
There is a thread connecting the mistakes the @IDF‘s Military Intelligence (Aman in Hebrew) made ahead of the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7 and the killing of IRGC Gen. Zahedi in Damascus and it should have all of us concerned about Maj.-Gen. Aharon Haliva’s ability to continue… pic.twitter.com/HwdDSZD8uq
— Yaakov Katz (@yaakovkatz) April 18, 2024
US expected to sanction IDF unit over alleged human rights abuses
08:50 , Tom Watling
A unit of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is expected to be sanctioned by the Biden administration this week after a ProPublica investigation claimed that the State Department sat for months on evidence of serious human rights abuses.
Reports of the expected move have enraged the Israeli government headed by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and comes as US-Israel relations continue to degrade under the stress of Israel’s military onslaught in the Gaza Strip.
US expected to sanction IDF unit over alleged human rights abuses
Here are the latest pictures from Israel and Gaza
08:35 , Tom Watling
Below are some of the latest pictures from Israel and Gaza
Iranian president lands in Pakistan for three-day visit to mend ties
08:20 , Tom Watling
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has arrived in Islamabad for a three-day official visit, the foreign office said, amid tight security in the Pakistani capital.
The visit, which Pakistan’s foreign office said would run until Wednesday, comes as the two Muslim neighbours seek to mend ties after unprecedented tit-for-tat military strikes this year.
“The Iranian president is accompanied by his spouse and a high-level delegation,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that the group also included the foreign minister, other cabinet members and senior officials.
Raisi will meet Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other officials, besides visiting the eastern city of Lahore and southern port city of Karachi, it added.
Major highways in Islamabad were blocked as part of the security measures for Raisi’s arrival, while the government declared a public holiday in Karachi.
Raisi’s visit is a key step towards normalising ties with Islamabad, but Iran’s supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameni, not the president, has the last say on state matters, such as nuclear policy.
Belgian foreign minister: New Iran sanctions should include Revolutionary Guards
08:02 , Tom Watling
New European Union sanctions against Iran in response to the country’s recent attack on Israel should include the Revolutionary Guards, Belgium’s Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib has said.
Speaking to journalists ahead of an EU ministers’ meeting in Luxembourg, Lahbib said that so far there was no consensus on what legal basis the Guards could be added to bloc-wide list of entities seen as terrorist origanisaions.
“We will discuss it together”, she said, adding:
“I also think we have to expand sanctions against violent settlers (in the Palestinian West Bank). We have to be balanced and make sure we won’t be accused of having double standards.”
Terry Anderson, AP reporter abducted in Lebanon and held captive for years, dies
07:15 , Namita Singh
Terry Anderson, the globe-trotting Associated Press correspondent who became one of America’s longest-held hostages after he was snatched from a street in war-torn Lebanon in 1985 and held for nearly seven years, has died at 76.
Anderson, who chronicled his abduction and torturous imprisonment by Islamic militants in his best-selling 1993 memoir “Den of Lions,” died yesterday at his home in Greenwood Lake, New York, said his daughter, Sulome Anderson.
Anderson died of complications from recent heart surgery, his daughter said.
More here:
Terry Anderson, AP reporter held captive for years, has died
Editorial: Israel and Iran must not let these violent skirmishes turn into war
07:00 , Matt Mathers
Is this not how wars start? Conventionally, one sovereign state deliberately bombing the embassy of another sovereign state in a third country would be a reason to go to war, and a lawful one.
This is indeed what happened on 1 April, when Israel destroyed a building within the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus, Syria. Iran, however, did not declare war in true 19th-century style. It instead launched a huge one-night bombardment of assorted missiles at Israel, almost all of which were dealt with before they could land through intervention by Israel and other, friendly, air forces, with the fabled Iron Dome anti-missile defence system working impeccably.
Again, even though the Iranian assault turned out to be more a show of Israeli than Iranian strength, that attempted bombardment would at least notionally serve as a perfectly adequate casus belli for Israel. Yet it provoked Israel “only” to retaliate via a precisely targeted aerial assault on a Revolutionary Guard airbase and munitions store – more than likely from whence the Iranians had dispatched their own drones towards Israel days before.
Read the full editorial here:
Israel and Iran must not let these violent skirmishes turn into war
At least 180 bodies recovered from mass grave – report
06:45 , Namita Singh
Authorities in Gaza allegedly recovered 180 bodies from a mass grave inside the Nasser Medical Complex in Gaza’s Khan Younis.
“In the hospital courtyard, civil defence members and paramedics have retrieved 180 bodies buried in this mass grave by the Israeli military. The bodies include elderly women, children and young men,” Al Jazeera reported quoting its reporter and Palestinian emergency services from Khan Younis.
“Our teams continue their search and retrieval operations for the remaining martyrs in the coming days as there are still a significant number of them,” the Palestinian emergency services said in a statement on Saturday.
In video: Israeli protesters carry mock coffins in call to release Gaza hostages
06:30 , Namita Singh
Israeli protesters carry mock coffins in call to release Gaza hostages
US expected to sanction IDF unit over alleged human rights abuses
06:15 , Namita Singh
A unit of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is expected to be sanctioned by the Biden administration this week after a ProPublica investigation claimed that the State Department sat for months on evidence of serious human rights abuses.
Reports of the expected move have enraged the Israeli government headed by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and comes as US-Israel relations continue to degrade under the stress of Israel’s military onslaught in the Gaza Strip.
Report:
US expected to sanction IDF unit over alleged human rights abuses
Recap: Watch as Sunak calls for ‘calm heads’ to prevail after reports of Israel attack on Iran
06:00 , Matt Mathers
Palestinian baby delivered after Israeli strike kills mother in Gaza
05:30 , Namita Singh
Sabreen Jouda came into the world seconds after her mother left it.
Their home was hit by an Israeli airstrike shortly before midnight Saturday. Until that moment, the family was like so many other Palestinians trying to shelter from the war in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah.
Sabreen’s father was killed. Her 4-year-old sister was killed. Her mother was killed.
But emergency responders learned that her mother, Sabreen al-Sakani, was 30 weeks pregnant. In a rush at the Kuwaiti hospital where the bodies were taken, medical workers performed an emergency cesarean section.
Report:
Palestinian baby in Gaza is delivered an orphan after Israeli strike kills family
What Israel’s suspected strike inside Iran tells us about Netanyahu
05:10 , Namita Singh
The conflict between Israel and Iran, fought out often in secret and through proxies, has now erupted with Israel suspected to have carried out strikes deep inside Iran six days after Tehran’s attack with more than 350 drones and missiles.
Explosions were heard near the central city of Isfahan, which has a large airbase, a major missile production complex and number of nuclear facilities.
Videos from the city showed orange flashes in the night sky, along with sounds of what appeared to be sustained bursts of anti-aircraft artillery.
Full report:
What Israel’s strike inside Iran tells us about Netanyahu – Analysis
Iraqi forces search for ‘outlaw elements’ firing missile in Syria
04:50 , Namita Singh
Iraqi security forces in the western Nineveh province area were searching for “outlaw elements” who fired missiles across the border into Syria late yesterday, targeting a base for US-led coalition forces, Iraq’s Security Media Cell said.
The searchers had found and destroyed a missile launcher, the statement added. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the reported attack.
Major General Tahseen al-Khafaji, head of the Security Media Cell, said about five missiles were launched across the border but it was unclear if they had hit or caused any damage at the targeted base.
The US officials did not comment on whether any US facility had been specifically targeted. One official said a coalition fighter destroyed a launcher in self-defence after reports of a failed rocket attack near a coalition base at Rumalyn, Syria.
No US personnel were injured, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details that were not yet public.
Satellite images reveal limited damage to Israeli airbase
04:28 , Namita Singh
Iran launched hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles that sought to overwhelm Israel’s air defences in the 13 April attack – the first on Israel by a foreign power since Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein launched Scud missiles at Israel in the 1991 Gulf War.
However, Israeli air defences and fighter jets, backed by the US, the UK and neighbouring Jordan, shot down the vast majority of the incoming fire.
Satellite images analysed by the Associated Press showed the Iranian attack caused only minor damage at the Nevatim air base in southern Israel, including taking a chunk out of a taxiway that Israel quickly repaired.
Iran’s attack came in response to a suspected Israeli strike on 1 April targeting a consular building next to the Iranian Embassy in Damascus, Syria, which killed two Guard generals and others.
“Today, thanks to the work done by our armed forces, the Revolutionary Guard, the army, the police, each in its own way, praise be to Allah the image of the country around the world has become commendable,” said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, despite Iran facing public anger over its economy and crackdowns on dissent.
Iran’s supreme leader tacitly acknowledges that Tehran hit little in its attack on Israel
04:15 , Namita Singh
Iran’s supreme leader yesterday dismissed any discussion of whether Tehran’s unprecedented drone-and-missile attack on Israel hit anything there, a tacit acknowledgment that despite launching a major assault, few projectiles actually made it through to their targets.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s comments before senior military leaders didn’t touch on the apparent Israeli retaliatory strike on Friday on the central city of Isfahan, even though air defences opened fire and Iran grounded commercial flights across much of the country.
Mr Khamenei, 85, made the comments in a meeting attended by the top ranks of Iran’s regular military, police and paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, a powerful force within its Shiite theocracy.
“Debates by the other party about how many missiles were fired, how many of them hit the target and how many didn’t, these are of secondary importance,” Khamenei said in remarks aired by state television.
“The main issue is the emergence of the Iranian nation and Iranian military’s will in an important international arena. This is what matters.”
Analysts believe both Iran and Israel, regional archrivals locked in a shadow war for years, are trying to dial back tensions following a series of escalatory attacks between them as the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip rages on and inflames the wider region.
Recap: Watch as explosions heard and blast of light seen over Iran city in suspected Israel attack
04:00 , Matt Mathers
Watch: Explosions seen over Iran city as Israel launches missile attack
Rockets fired from Iraq towards US military base in Syria, security sources say
03:53 , Namita Singh
At least five rockets were launched from Iraq’s town of Zummar towards a US military base in northeastern Syria yesterday, two Iraqi security sources and a US official told Reuters.
The attack against US forces is the first since early February when Iranian-backed groups in Iraq stopped their attacks against US troops.
It comes a day after Iraqi prime minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani returned from a visit to the United States, where he met with president Joe Biden at the White House.
A post on a Telegram group affiliated with Kataib Hezbollah said armed factions in Iraq had decided to resume attacks after a near-three month pause after seeing little progress on talks to end the US-led military coalition in the country.
Another popular Telegram group close to Kataib Hezbollah, Sabreen News, later said there had been no official statement by the Iran-backed faction.
A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said more than five rockets were fired from Iraq towards troops at a coalition base in Rumalyn, Syria, but no US. personnel were injured.
ICYMI | In full: US expected to sanction IDF unit over alleged human rights abuses
03:00 , Matt Mathers
A unit of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is expected to be sanctioned by the Biden administration this week after a ProPublica investigation claimed that the State Department sat for months on evidence of serious human rights abuses.
Reports of the expected move have enraged the Israeli government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and comes as US-Israel relations continue to degrade under the stress of Israel’s military onslaught in the Gaza Strip.
Full report:
US expected to sanction IDF unit over alleged human rights abuses
US says a UN agency has agreed to help in distribution of aid to Gaza via sea route
02:00 , Matt Mathers
The UN World Food Program has agreed to help deliver aid for the starving civilians of Gaza once the US military completes a pier for transporting the humanitarian assistance by sea, US officials said Friday.
The involvement of the UN agency could help resolve one of the major obstacles facing the US-planned project — the reluctance of aid groups to handle on-the-ground distribution of food and other badly needed goods in Gaza absent significant changes by Israel.
An Israeli military attack on 1 April that killed seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen intensified international criticism of Israel for failing to provide security for humanitarian workers or allow adequate amounts of aid across its land borders.
Full report:
US says a UN agency has agreed to help in distribution of aid to Gaza via sea route
US House passes $95b Ukraine, Israel aid package
01:00 , Matt Mathers
The US House of Representatives has finally passed billions of dollars of aid to Ukraine and Israel amid resistance from Republican hardliners.
A broad $95b legislative package providing security assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, was passed yesterday with $26b pledged for Israel.
The Senate is set to begin considering the House-passed bill on Tuesday, with some preliminary votes that afternoon. Final passage was expected sometime next week, which would clear the way for Biden to sign it into law.
The House’s actions during a rare Saturday session put on display some cracks in what generally is solid support for Israel within Congress. Recent months have seen progressive Democrats express anger with Israel‘s government and its conduct of the war in Gaza.
Saturday’s vote, in which the Israel aid was passed 366-58, had 37 Democrats and 21 Republicans in opposition.
How many nuclear weapons do Israel and Iran have amid fears of wider conflict
Monday 22 April 2024 00:01 , Matt Mathers
On Friday morning, Iranians walked down the streets of Tehran next to posters adorning the country’s national flag with three depictions of missiles being fired from it.
“Israel is as weak as a spider web”, one poster read. Just hours before, explosions were heard over an airbase 200 miles south of the city in Isfahan.
Tehran’s defences had shot down three drones launched from over 1,200 miles away in Israel – said to be part of Netanyahu’s “response” for an earlier attack by Iran which saw over 300 missiles and drones fired at the Jewish state.
Full report:
How many nuclear weapons do Israel and Iran have?
Mapped: Where is Isfahan? The target of suspected Israeli strikes against Iran
Sunday 21 April 2024 23:00 , Matt Mathers
Isfahan is a major city located around 252 miles south of the Iranian capital Tehran. It has a population nearly 2 million and is about 1,200 miles from Tel Aviv, Israel.
It is the third-most populous city in Iran, after Tehran and Mashhad, and the second-largest metropolitan area, according to Iranian media.
See the map:
Mapped: Where is Isfahan? The target of Israel’s strikes against Iran
Israeli PM Netanyahu says he will fight any sanctions on army battalions
Sunday 21 April 2024 22:00 , Matt Mathers
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he would fight against sanctions being imposed on any Israeli military units after media reported that Washington was planning such a step against a battalion for alleged rights violations.
On Saturday, Axios news site reported that Washington was planning to impose sanctions on Israel’s Netzah Yehuda battalion that has operated in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military said it was not aware of any measures being taken.
“If anyone thinks they can impose sanctions on a unit of the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) – I will fight it with all my strength,” Mr Netanyahu said in a statement.
ICYMI: Baby girl was delivered from the womb of mother killed in Israeli airstrike
Sunday 21 April 2024 21:00 , Matt Mathers
A baby girl was delivered from the womb of a Palestinian killed along with her husband and daughter by an Israeli attack in the Gaza city of Rafah, where 19 people died overnight in intensified strikes, Palestinian health officials said.
The dead, killed in hits on two houses, included 13 children from one family, they said.
The baby, weighing 1.4 kg and delivered in an emergency C-section, was stable and improving gradually, said Mohammed Salama, a doctor caring for her.
Her mother, Sabreen Al-Sakani, had been 30 weeks pregnant.
The baby was placed in an incubator in a Rafah hospital alongside another infant, with the words “The baby of the martyr Sabreen Al-Sakani” written on tape across her chest.
ICYMI: Death toll from Israel’s strikes on Rafah climbs to 22 overnight including 18 children
Sunday 21 April 2024 20:00 , Matt Mathers
Israeli strikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah overnight killed 22 people, including 18 children, health officials said Sunday.
Israel has carried out near-daily air raids on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million has sought refuge from fighting elsewhere. It has also vowed to expand its ground offensive to the city on the border with Egypt despite international calls for restraint, including from the U.S.
The first strike killed a man, his wife and their 3-year-old child, according to the nearby Kuwaiti Hospital, which received the bodies.
The woman was pregnant and the doctors managed to save the baby, the hospital said.The second strike killed 17 children and two women, all from the same extended family, according to hospital records. First responders were still searching the rubble. An airstrike in Rafah the night before killed nine people, including six children.
The Israel-Hamas war has killed over 34,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials.
ICYMI: Iranian president to visit Pakistan in bid to mend ties after missile strikes
Sunday 21 April 2024 19:00 , Matt Mathers
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will make an official visit to Pakistan this week, Islamabad said on Sunday, as the two Muslim neighbours seek to mend ties after tit-for-tat missile strikes in January.
The visit, which Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would take place from Monday to Wednesday, had been in doubt as Middle East tensions rose after Iran launched an unprecedented attack on Israel a week ago and central Iran received what sources said was an Israeli attack on Friday.
Pakistan has signalled since January that Raisi would visit, and the prime minister said last week the visit would take place “very soon”.
Tehran has played down Friday’s apparent Israeli attack and indicated it had no plans for retaliation, a response that appeared gauged towards keeping the Israel-Gaza war from expanding to a regionwide conflict.
ICYMI: Entire family killed in Israeli strike but unborn baby saved by doctors
Sunday 21 April 2024 18:00 , Matt Mathers
Israeli strikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah overnight killed 13 people, including nine children, health officials said.
The first strike killed a man, his wife and their 3-year-old child, according to the nearby Kuwaiti Hospital, which received the bodies. The woman was pregnant, and the doctors managed to save the baby, the hospital said.
The second strike killed eight children and two women, all from the same family, according to hospital records. An airstrike in Rafah the night before killed nine people, including six children.
The Israel-Hamas war has killed over 34,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, devastated Gaza’s two largest cities and left a swath of destruction across the territory. Around 80% of the population have fled their homes to other parts of the besieged coastal enclave, which experts say is on the brink of famine.
Watch: Moment huge explosion hits base of Iranian-aligned Iraqi army unit
Sunday 21 April 2024 17:30 , Matt Mathers
Moment huge explosion hits base of Iranian-backed Iraqi army unit
In full: US expected to sanction IDF unit over alleged human rights abuses
Sunday 21 April 2024 17:29 , Matt Mathers
A unit of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is expected to be sanctioned by the Biden administration this week after a ProPublica investigation claimed that the State Department sat for months on evidence of serious human rights abuses.
Reports of the expected move have enraged the Israeli government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and comes as US-Israel relations continue to degrade under the stress of Israel’s military onslaught in the Gaza Strip.
Full report:
US expected to sanction IDF unit over alleged human rights abuses
Israeli PM Netanyahu says he will fight any sanctions on army battalions
Sunday 21 April 2024 17:00 , Matt Mathers
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he would fight against sanctions being imposed on any Israeli military units after media reported that Washington was planning such a step against a battalion for alleged rights violations.
On Saturday, Axios news site reported that Washington was planning to impose sanctions on Israel’s Netzah Yehuda battalion that has operated in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military said it was not aware of any measures being taken.
“If anyone thinks they can impose sanctions on a unit of the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) – I will fight it with all my strength,” Mr Netanyahu said in a statement.
Baby girl was delivered from the womb of mother killed in Israeli airstrike
Sunday 21 April 2024 16:35 , Barney Davis
A baby girl was delivered from the womb of a Palestinian killed along with her husband and daughter by an Israeli attack in the Gaza city of Rafah, where 19 people died overnight in intensified strikes, Palestinian health officials said.
The dead, killed in hits on two houses, included 13 children from one family, they said.
The baby, weighing 1.4 kg and delivered in an emergency C-section, was stable and improving gradually, said Mohammed Salama, a doctor caring for her.
Her mother, Sabreen Al-Sakani, had been 30 weeks pregnant.
The baby was placed in an incubator in a Rafah hospital alongside another infant, with the words “The baby of the martyr Sabreen Al-Sakani” written on tape across her chest.
Sakani’s young daughter Malak, who was killed in the strike, had wanted to name her new sister Rouh, meaning spirit in Arabic, said her uncle Rami Al-Sheikh. “The little girl Malak was happy that her sister was coming to the world,” he said.
The baby would stay in hospital for three to four weeks, said Salama, the doctor. “After that we will see about her leaving, and where this child will go, to the family, to the aunt or uncle or grandparents. Here is the biggest tragedy. Even if this child survives, she was born an orphan,” he said.
The 13 children were killed in a strike on the second home, belonging to the Abdel Aal family, according to Palestinian health officials. Two women were also killed in that strike.
Death toll from Israel’s strikes on Rafah climbs to 22 overnight including 18 children
Sunday 21 April 2024 13:45 , Barney Davis
Israeli strikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah overnight killed 22 people, including 18 children, health officials said Sunday.
Israel has carried out near-daily air raids on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million has sought refuge from fighting elsewhere. It has also vowed to expand its ground offensive to the city on the border with Egypt despite international calls for restraint, including from the U.S.
The first strike killed a man, his wife and their 3-year-old child, according to the nearby Kuwaiti Hospital, which received the bodies.
The woman was pregnant and the doctors managed to save the baby, the hospital said.The second strike killed 17 children and two women, all from the same extended family, according to hospital records. First responders were still searching the rubble. An airstrike in Rafah the night before killed nine people, including six children.
The Israel-Hamas war has killed over 34,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials.
Iran’s Khamenei thanks armed forces for attack on Israel, state media says
Sunday 21 April 2024 12:28 , Barney Davis
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei thanked the country’s armed forces for their April 13 operation against Israel, Iran’s official news agency reported on Sunday, and he called upon them to “ceaselessly pursue military innovation and learn the enemy’s tactics.”
Iranian president to visit Pakistan in bid to mend ties after missile strikes
Sunday 21 April 2024 11:28 , Barney Davis
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will make an official visit to Pakistan this week, Islamabad said on Sunday, as the two Muslim neighbours seek to mend ties after tit-for-tat missile strikes in January.
The visit, which Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would take place from Monday to Wednesday, had been in doubt as Middle East tensions rose after Iran launched an unprecedented attack on Israel a week ago and central Iran received what sources said was an Israeli attack on Friday.
Pakistan has signalled since January that Raisi would visit, and the prime minister said last week the visit would take place “very soon”.
Tehran has played down Friday’s apparent Israeli attack and indicated it had no plans for retaliation, a response that appeared gauged towards keeping the Israel-Gaza war from expanding to a regionwide conflict.
US to ‘announce sanctions IDF’s Netzah Yehuda’
Sunday 21 April 2024 10:57 , Barney Davis
The Biden administration is slated to announce sanctions against the IDF’s Netzah Yehuda battalion for alleged human rights abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank, the Axios news site reported on Saturday.
It would be the first time the US imposed sanctions on an Israeli military unit.
The sanctions will ban the battalion and its members from receiving any kind of military assistance or training, the sources told the US site.
A 1997 law authored by then-Senator Patrick Leahy prohibits US foreign aid and Defense Department training programs from going to foreign security, military and police units credibly alleged to have committed human rights violations.
Netzah Yehuda, or “Judea Forever,” is a special unit for ultra-Orthodox Jewish soldiers. It was formed with the aim of integrating a segment of the population that does not normally do military service.
But Israeli media have reported problems in the unit stemming from the hard-line ideology of many of the soldiers.
Entire family killed in Israeli strike but unborn baby saved by doctors
Sunday 21 April 2024 09:00 , Barney Davis
Israeli strikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah overnight killed 13 people, including nine children, health officials said.
The first strike killed a man, his wife and their 3-year-old child, according to the nearby Kuwaiti Hospital, which received the bodies. The woman was pregnant, and the doctors managed to save the baby, the hospital said.
The second strike killed eight children and two women, all from the same family, according to hospital records. An airstrike in Rafah the night before killed nine people, including six children.
The Israel-Hamas war has killed over 34,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, devastated Gaza’s two largest cities and left a swath of destruction across the territory. Around 80% of the population have fled their homes to other parts of the besieged coastal enclave, which experts say is on the brink of famine.
In photos: Students lead protest against Israeli war in Columbia University
Sunday 21 April 2024 08:00 , Shweta Sharma
Hundreds of students continued their encampment on the campus of Columbia University to protest against the Israeli war in Gaza despite arrests and disciplinary actions from the college authorities.
The majority of protesters faced charges of trespassing as they refused to vacate the area, violating school regulations. Additionally, suspensions were issued.
Thousands of Israelis join anti-government protests calling for new elections
Sunday 21 April 2024 07:00 , Tara Cobham
Thousands of Israeli demonstrators took to the streets on Saturday to call for new elections and demand more action from the government to bring the hostages held in Gaza home, in the latest round of protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The protests have continued as the war in Gaza moves through its seventh month and amid growing anger over the government’s approach to the 133 Israeli hostages still held by the Islamist movement Hamas.
Surveys indicate that most Israelis blame Netanyahu for the security failures that led to the devastating attack by Hamas fighters on communities in southern Israel on 7 October.
Israel’s longest-serving prime minister has repeatedly ruled out early elections, which opinion polls suggest he would lose, saying that to go to the polls in the middle of a war would only reward Hamas.
“We’re here to protest against this government that keeps dragging us down, month after month; before October 7th, after October 7th. We kept going down in a spiral,” said Yalon Pikman, 58, who attended a march in Tel Aviv.
Hamas-led gunmen seized 253 people during the 7 October attack that killed around 1,200, according to Israeli tallies. Some hostages were freed in a November truce, but efforts to secure another deal appear to have stalled.
Netanyahu has pledged to continue the Israeli campaign in Gaza, which local health authorities say has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, until all the hostages are brought home and Hamas has been destroyed.
Mapped: Where is Isfahan? The target of suspected Israeli strikes against Iran
Sunday 21 April 2024 06:00 , Tara Cobham
Mapped: Where is Isfahan? The target of Israel’s strikes against Iran
Watch: Moment huge explosion hits base of Iranian-aligned Iraqi army unit
Sunday 21 April 2024 05:00 , Tara Cobham
More than 14 Palestinians killed in Israeli raid on refugee camp, Palestinian authorities say
Sunday 21 April 2024 04:10 , Shweta Sharma
Israeli forces killed 14 Palestinians during a raid at the Nur al-Shams refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.
Among the fatalities, an ambulance driver was killed as he went to pick up wounded from a separate attack by violent Jewish settlers, it added.
Israeli forces began an extended raid in the early hours of Friday in the Nur Shams area, near the flashpoint Palestinian city of Tulkarm and were still exchanging fire with armed fighters well into Saturday.
Israeli military vehicles massed and bursts of gunfire were heard, while at least three drones were seen hovering above Nur Shams, an area housing refugees and their descendants from the 1948 war that accompanied the creation of the state of Israel.
On Saturday, Palestinian health authorities said at least 14 Palestinians, two of whom were identified by Palestinian sources and officials as a gunman and a 16 year-old boy, were killed during the raid, one of the heaviest casualty totals in the West Bank in months. Another man was killed on Friday.
How many nuclear weapons do Israel and Iran have amid fears of wider conflict
Sunday 21 April 2024 04:00 , Tara Cobham
On Friday morning, Iranians walked down the streets of Tehran next to posters adorning the country’s national flag with three depictions of missiles being fired from it.
“Israel is as weak as a spider web”, one poster read. Just hours before, explosions were heard over an airbase 200 miles south of the city in Isfahan.
Tehran’s defences had shot down three drones launched from over 1,200 miles away in Israel – said to be part of Netanyahu’s “response” for an earlier attack by Iran which saw over 300 missiles and drones fired at the Jewish state.
Alexander Butler reports:
How many nuclear weapons do Israel and Iran have?
US House passes $95b Ukraine, Israel aid package
Sunday 21 April 2024 03:57 , Shweta Sharma
The US House of Representatives has finally passed billions of dollars of aid to Ukraine and Israel amid resistance from Republican hardliners.
A broad $95b legislative package providing security assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, was passed yesterday with $26b pledged for Israel.
The Senate is set to begin considering the House-passed bill on Tuesday, with some preliminary votes that afternoon. Final passage was expected sometime next week, which would clear the way for Biden to sign it into law.
The House’s actions during a rare Saturday session put on display some cracks in what generally is solid support for Israel within Congress. Recent months have seen progressive Democrats express anger with Israel‘s government and its conduct of the war in Gaza.
Saturday’s vote, in which the Israel aid was passed 366-58, had 37 Democrats and 21 Republicans in opposition.
US says a UN agency has agreed to help in distribution of aid to Gaza via sea route
Sunday 21 April 2024 03:00 , Tara Cobham
The UN World Food Program has agreed to help deliver aid for the starving civilians of Gaza once the US military completes a pier for transporting the humanitarian assistance by sea, US officials said Friday.
The involvement of the UN agency could help resolve one of the major obstacles facing the US-planned project — the reluctance of aid groups to handle on-the-ground distribution of food and other badly needed goods in Gaza absent significant changes by Israel.
An Israeli military attack on 1 April that killed seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen intensified international criticism of Israel for failing to provide security for humanitarian workers or allow adequate amounts of aid across its land borders.
Ellen Knickmeyer and Lolita C. Baldor report:
US says a UN agency has agreed to help in distribution of aid to Gaza via sea route
Recap: Watch as explosions heard and blast of light seen over Iran city in suspected Israel attack
Sunday 21 April 2024 02:00 , Tara Cobham
What Israel’s suspected strike inside Iran tells us about Netanyahu
Sunday 21 April 2024 01:00 , Tara Cobham
The conflict between Israel and Iran, fought out often in secret and through proxies, has now erupted with Israel suspected to have carried out strikes deep inside Iran six days after Tehran’s attack with more than 350 drones and missiles.
Explosions were heard near the central city of Isfahan, which has a large airbase, a major missile production complex and number of nuclear facilities.
Videos from the city showed orange flashes in the night sky, along with sounds of what appeared to be sustained bursts of anti-aircraft artillery.
World Affairs Editor Kim Sengupta reports:
What Israel’s strike inside Iran tells us about Netanyahu – Analysis
Recap: Watch as Sunak calls for ‘calm heads’ to prevail after reports of Israel attack on Iran
Sunday 21 April 2024 00:00 , Tara Cobham
Editorial: Israel and Iran must not let these violent skirmishes turn into war
Saturday 20 April 2024 23:00 , Tara Cobham
Is this not how wars start? Conventionally, one sovereign state deliberately bombing the embassy of another sovereign state in a third country would be a reason to go to war, and a lawful one.
This is indeed what happened on 1 April, when Israel destroyed a building within the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus, Syria. Iran, however, did not declare war in true 19th-century style. It instead launched a huge one-night bombardment of assorted missiles at Israel, almost all of which were dealt with before they could land through intervention by Israel and other, friendly, air forces, with the fabled Iron Dome anti-missile defence system working impeccably.
Again, even though the Iranian assault turned out to be more a show of Israeli than Iranian strength, that attempted bombardment would at least notionally serve as a perfectly adequate casus belli for Israel. Yet it provoked Israel “only” to retaliate via a precisely targeted aerial assault on a Revolutionary Guard airbase and munitions store – more than likely from whence the Iranians had dispatched their own drones towards Israel days before.
Read more here:
Israel and Iran must not let these violent skirmishes turn into war
Israel and Iran’s apparent strikes and counterstrikes give new insights into both militaries
Saturday 20 April 2024 22:00 , Tara Cobham
Israel demonstrated its military dominance over adversary Iran in its apparent precision strikes that hit near military and nuclear targets deep in the heart of the country, meeting little significant challenge from Iran’s defenses and providing the world with new insights into both militaries’ capabilities.
The international community, Israel and Iran all signaled hopes that Friday’s airstrikes would end what has been a dangerous 19-day run of strikes and counterstrikes, a highly public test between two deep rivals that had previously stopped short of most direct confrontation.
The move into open fighting began April 1 with the suspected Israeli killing of Iranian generals at an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria. That prompted Iran’s retaliatory barrage last weekend of more than 300 missiles and drones that the U.S., Israel and regional and international partners helped bat down without significant damage in Israel. And then came Friday’s apparent Israeli strike.
Ellen Knickmeyer reports:
Israel and Iran’s apparent strikes and counterstrikes give new insights into both militaries
Israeli forces kill 13 Palestinians in West Bank raid, Palestinian health ministry says
Saturday 20 April 2024 21:00 , Tara Cobham
Israeli forces have killed 13 Palestinians since beginning a raid on Tulkarm city and Nur Shams refugee camp in the West Bank from Thursday, the Palestinian health ministry said on Saturday.
Iranian attack damaged taxiway at Israeli air base, satellite image shows
Saturday 20 April 2024 20:00 , Tara Cobham
An Iranian attack on an Israeli desert air base during Tehran’s unprecedented assault on the country damaged a taxiway, a satellite image shows.
The overall damage done to Nevatim air base in southern Israel was minor despite Iran launching hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.
The Planet Labs PBC image, taken on Friday for the Associated Press, shows the repaired taxiway near hangars at the southern part of Nevatim air base, about 40 miles south of Jerusalem.
The daily newspaper Haaretz, which published lower-resolution images of the site on Thursday, identified the hangars nearby as housing C-130 cargo aircraft flown by transport squadrons.
The satellite image corresponds to footage earlier released by the Israeli military, which showed construction equipment near the damaged taxiway. A hangar in the background of the video mirrors those seen nearby.
Other images released by the Israeli military showed a crater in the sand and damage under what appeared to be a wall that it said came from the Iranian attack.
The little visible damage seen at the air base in the satellite image directly contradicts Iran’s efforts to portray the attack as a great victory to a public alienated by the Islamic Republic’s struggling economy and its heavy-handed crackdowns on dissent in recent years.
However, it does show Iran’s arsenal has the ability to reach Israel, as the 13 April attack marked the first direct military assault on the country by a foreign nation since Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein launched Scud missiles at Israel in the 1991 Gulf War.
Violence flares in West Bank as Gaza fighting continues
Saturday 20 April 2024 19:00 , Tara Cobham
A Palestinian ambulance driver was killed during the evacuation of the wounded during a raid by violent Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, Palestinian authorities said.
The incident came as violence flared across the area and fighting continued in Gaza.
The Palestinian health ministry said the 50-year-old driver was killed by Israeli gunfire near the village of Al-Sawiya, south of the city of Nablus, as he was making his way to transport people injured during the attack on the village.
It was not immediately clear whether he was shot by settlers. There was no immediate comment from the military.
Earlier, health authorities said at least two Palestinians, identified by Palestinian sources and officials as a gunman and a 16 year-old boy, had been killed during a raid by Israeli forces in the Nur Shams area, near the Palestinian city of Tulkarm.
A number of militants were killed and more arrested, the Israeli military said, and at least four soldiers were wounded in exchanges of fire.
Tulkarm Brigades group, which includes militants from numerous Palestinian factions, said its fighters exchanged fire with Israeli forces on Saturday.
At least three drones were seen hovering above Nur Shams, where Israeli military vehicles were massed and bursts of gunfire were heard.
Erdogan meets Hamas leader in Turkey to discuss efforts for regional peace
Saturday 20 April 2024 17:48 , Tara Cobham
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan discussed efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza and reach a fair and lasting peace in the region during a meeting with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Istanbul on Saturday, his office said.
It was the first meeting between Erdogan and a Hamas delegation headed by Haniyeh since Israel began its military offensive in the Gaza Strip. Haniyeh’s visit to Turkey took place three days after he met Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Doha.
“Issues related to Israel’s attacks on lands of Palestine, particularly Gaza, efforts for adequate and uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, and a fair and lasting peace process in the region were discussed,” the Turkish presidency said in a statement.
The visit took place amid escalating regional tensions following Israel’s reported attack on Iran this week.
“Erdogan stressed that Israel should not benefit from the developments (between Iran and Israel) and that it is important to make efforts that will draw attention to Gaza again,” the statement added.
NATO member Turkey has denounced Israel’s offensive in Gaza following Hamas’ 7 October attack on Israel and called for an immediate ceasefire.
In Saturday’s meeting, Erdogan told Haniyeh Turkey continues its diplomatic efforts for a permanent ceasefire as well as the establishment of an independent state of Palestine, according to the statement.
Erdogan also told Haniyeh “it is vital for Palestinians to act in unity,” the statement said.
Six children killed in Israeli airstrike on southern Gaza city of Rafah
Saturday 20 April 2024 16:43 , Barney Davis
An Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza’s southernmost city killed at least nine people, six of them children.
The strike late Friday hit a residential building in the western Tel Sultan neighbourhood of the city of Rafah, according to Gaza’s civil defence.
The casualties were initially transferred to the Kuwaiti Hospital in Rafah, and later the bodies of the six children, two women and a man were taken to Rafah’s Abu Yousef al-Najjar hospital, where the area’s main morgue is located, the hospital’s records showed.
The fatalities included Abdel-Fattah Sobhi Radwan, his wife Najlaa Ahmed Aweidah and their three children, his brother-in-law Ahmed Barhoum said. Barhoum also lost his wife, Rawan Radwan, and their 5-year-old daughter Alaa.
“This is a world devoid of all human values and morals,” Barhoum told The Associated Press Saturday morning, crying as he cradled and gently rocked the shroud-wrapped body of Alaa in his arms.
“They bombed a house full of displaced people, women and children. The only martyrs were women and children.”
Turkey says ending Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories is ‘first priority’
Saturday 20 April 2024 14:40 , Barney Davis
Tension between Israel and Iran should not distract from the situation in Gaza and the first priority of the international community should be ending the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said.
Speaking at a joint news conference with Fidan, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said there was concern in the region over the ongoing escalation.
“We’ve warned of the expansion of the conflict from the very beginning,” he said.
“We’ve called on both parties (Iran and Israel) to exercise restraint.”
Fidan said the main cause of instability in the Middle East was Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and Western backing for Israel.
“Any development that could distract us from this fact should be ignored,” he said. “Our first priority should be ending Israel’s occupation in Palestine and a two-state solution.”
Iraq’s PMF force says base was attacked, army investigates
Saturday 20 April 2024 14:39 , Barney Davis
A huge blast at a military base in Iraq early on Saturday killed a member of an Iraqi security force that includes Iran-backed groups.
The force commander said it was an attack while the army said it was investigating and there were no warplanes in the sky at the time.
Two security sources had said earlier that an airstrike caused the blast, which killed a member of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and wounded eight others at Kalso military base about 50 km (30 miles) south of Baghdad.
In a statement, the PMF said its chief of staff Abdul Aziz al-Mohammedawi had visited the location and reviewed information from investigators.
“The air defence command report confirmed, through technical efforts and radar detection, that there was no drone or fighter jet in the air space of Babil before and during the explosion,” the military said in a statement.
A video broadcast by Al Ahad TV, which is owned by a PMF faction, showed debris and a crater left by the explosion.
Moment huge explosion hits base of Iranian-backed Iraqi army unit
Saturday 20 April 2024 14:21 , Barney Davis
Footage released on social media on Saturday 20 April appears to show huge explosions at a military base belonging to Iraq’s Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in Babylon, south of Baghdad.
The cause of the blast hasn’t been confirmed.
Footage from a car shows huge explosions in the distance from an ammunition depot inside the military base, followed by what appears to launch bright fragments into the sky and with huge smoke and fire.
A statement from the Iran-backed PMF said “an explosion occurred at the headquarters of the Popular Mobilization Forces at the Kalsu military base”.
Moment huge explosion hits base of Iranian-backed Iraqi army unit
Hamas condemns explosion at Iraqi base
Saturday 20 April 2024 10:15 , Barney Davis
Hamas “strongly condemns” reported explosions on a base of the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) in Iraq and “considers it a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty”, Al Jazeera reported.
“We hold the Biden administration responsible for the escalation in the region through its supply and support for the Nazi war of extermination against our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip,” the group said in a statement.
‘Latest strike like a children’s toy rather than drone’ Iran brushes off Israel attack
Saturday 20 April 2024 09:15 , Barney Davis
Iran’s foreign minister played down Israel’s limited military attack on Friday, claiming it “was not a strike” and refusing to acknowledge Israeli involvement.
“It has not been proven to us that there is a connection between this and Israel,” Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in an NBC News interview about the operation.
“They were more like toys that our children play with — not drones,” he added.
An Israeli official, who confirmed the strike on the condition of anonymity to discuss the government’s thinking, said it was intended only to convey to Iran that Israel has the ability to hit targets inside the country.
The “attack” appeared to be calibrated as a message to Tehran that would not prompt an immediate retaliation.
‘Bombing’ hits Iraq military base housing pro-Iranian force, Iraqi officials say
Saturday 20 April 2024 08:12 , Barney Davis
An explosion rocked the Calso military base in Babylon province south of Baghdad, where Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, or Hashed al-Shaabi, is stationed, according to two officials.
A ministry of interior official said the “aerial bombing” had killed one person and wounded eight others, while the military source reported three Iraqi military personnel had been wounded in a strike.
In a statement, Hashed al-Shaabi said an “explosion” had inflicted “material losses” and casualties, without specifying the number of wounded.
The group confirmed that its premises on the military base had been hit and that investigators had been sent to the site.
Responding to questions from AFP, the security sources would not identify who was responsible, or say whether it had been a drone strike.
“The explosion hit equipment, weapons and vehicles,” said the ministry source.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Iran says it will respond at ‘maximum level’ if Israel acts against its interests
Saturday 20 April 2024 08:00 , Shweta Sharma
Iran has said it will respond at an immediate and “maximum level” if Israel acts against its interests.
“If Israel wants to do another adventurism and acts against the interests of Iran, our next response will be immediate and will be at the maximum level,” foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said, speaking through a translator, in an interview with NBC News.
“But if not, then we are done. We are concluded,” he said.
His comments follow reports of a strike in Iran on Friday.
Iran and Israel won’t stop fighting, but WW3 has been averted… for now
Saturday 20 April 2024 07:00 , Tara Cobham
From the early hours of this morning, a blizzard of reports spoke of an attack on an airbase near Isfahan, in central Iran. Such an attack was hardly unexpected. For all the appeals, from the US, the UK, and many others, Israel had left no doubt that it would mount a military response to Iran’s failed assault the week before.
What appeared to be a finely targeted raid on a complex believed to have been involved in Iran’s attack – a raid, what is more, carried out on the Iranian Supreme Leader’s birthday – could well have been it.
Except that, in the cold hard light of day, Iran denied there had been any attack at all.
Mary Dejevsky writes:
Iran and Israel won’t stop fighting, but World War Three has been averted – for now
