Israel vowed Tuesday to make Iran pay the price for its unprecedented attack on Israeli territory, despite international calls for restraint in a region already reeling from the war in the Gaza Strip. In Tehran, President Ebrahim Raïssi warned that “the slightest action” by Israel against “Iran’s interests” would provoke “a severe, widespread and painful response” from his country.
In this context which reinforces fears of a conflagration in the Middle East, the offensive of the Israeli army in the besieged Gaza Strip and threatened by famine, shows no sign of respite, with 46 Palestinians killed in the last 24 hours , according to Hamas.
The main information to remember:
- Israel vows ‘response’ to massive, unprecedented attack by Iran, despite calls from many countries, including its US ally, to avoid escalation
- The United States said it did not want “an extended war with Iran”, and warned that it would not participate in a retaliatory operation
- Iran said it considered “the matter closed” and warned Israel, its sworn enemy, against any “reckless behavior” which would trigger a “much stronger” reaction from it
- The Israeli army bombed Gaza overnight from Monday to Tuesday, after asserting that the Iranian attack would not deviate from its objectives against Hamas
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticized Benjamin Netanyahu as “the main person” to blame for Iran’s attack on Israel.
Erdogan says Netanyahu ‘mainly responsible’ for Iran’s attack on Israel
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “the main person” to blame for Iran’s attack on Israel. “The main person responsible for the tension that gripped our hearts on the evening of April 13 is Netanyahu and his bloodthirsty administration,” said the Turkish head of state during a televised intervention.
“Israel’s targeting of the Iranian embassy in Damascus in violation of international law and the Vienna Convention was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” said the Turkish president. “Those who remained silent for months about Israel’s aggressive stance immediately began to condemn the Iranian response. However, it is Netanyahu himself who should be condemned first,” he added.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been one of the most virulent critics of Israel, which he has described as a “terrorist state”. Turkey called on Sunday to “end the escalation” in the Middle East, saying it feared a “regional war” after the Iranian strikes which targeted Israel during the night from Saturday to Sunday.
Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles against Israel overnight, in response to a strike against its consulate in Damascus, an unprecedented direct Iranian attack which was “foiled” according to the Israeli army.
“We cannot stand idly by in the face of such aggression”
Twelve days after a deadly strike against its consulate in Damascus on April 1 blamed on Israel, Iran launched a drone and missile attack on Israeli territory on Saturday evening, the first ever carried out from Iranian soil. Almost all of the 350 projectiles were intercepted with the help of the United States and other allied countries, Israel said, reporting injuries. “We cannot remain idly faced with such aggression, Iran will not emerge unscathed” from its attack, said army spokesperson Daniel Hagari, during a visit organized for the media on a base in southern Israel.
“Firing 110 missiles directly at Israel will not go unpunished. We will respond when, where and how we choose,” said Rear Admiral Hagari, whose country is the sworn enemy of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Iran.
The United States will not participate in a retaliatory operation
Just after its attack, Iran claimed to have acted “by exercising its right to self-defense” following the strike which destroyed its consulate in Damascus and cost the lives of two senior Iranian officers in particular, and said it was considering ” case closed.” The Israeli army claimed that the victims of the strike in the Syrian capital were “terrorists” acting against Israel, without confirming or denying its involvement.
Fearing an explosion in the region, the United States, Israel’s unwavering ally, quickly made it known that it did not want “an extended war with Iran” and warned that it would not participate in a Israeli retaliation operation. The United Kingdom and France have also distanced themselves. Russia called on both parties to “restraint”, assuring that a “further escalation is in no one’s interest”. “We do not need additional conflict in our region,” said Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhane.
After the support of several allies in the interception of the missiles, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the international community to “remain united” in the face of “Iranian aggression, which threatens world peace”. Iran, which calls for the destruction of Israel, has until now refrained from attacking it head-on and confronts it via its allies such as the Lebanese Hezbollah.
A Hezbollah commander killed on Tuesday
On Tuesday, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for launching two explosive drones from Lebanon on Israeli positions in the north. The army later claimed to have killed a Lebanese movement commander in a strike.
Despite the twists and turns linked to Iran, Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed his determination to continue the war against Hamas in Gaza. “You are joining the IDF in glorious fighting units to repel a cruel enemy, the monsters who attacked us,” he told new recruits at the Tel Hashomer base (center). “We strike them back mercilessly and we will defeat them.”
The Hamas-Israel conflict in brief
The war was triggered by an unprecedented attack carried out on October 7 by Hamas commandos infiltrated from Gaza in southern Israel, which left 1,170 dead, 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.
In retaliation, Israel vowed to destroy Hamas, in power in Gaza since 2007, which it considers a terrorist organization along with the United States and the European Union. The devastating offensive in the Gaza Strip has left 33,843 dead since October 7, according to the Hamas health ministry, and has caused a humanitarian catastrophe with most of the 2.4 million residents at risk of starvation according to the UN.
An insufficient number of trucks for humanitarian aid
According to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), the volume of humanitarian aid authorized by Israel to enter Gaza remains well below the target of 500 trucks per day, with “181 trucks” every day since the beginning of April.
Hamas continues to demand a definitive ceasefire with a view to a truce in the war. But Benjamin Netanyahu maintains his plan for a ground offensive against the city of Rafah, in the south, which he presents as the last great bastion of the Islamist movement. The international community fears a bloodbath in this city which has become a refuge for 1.5 million Palestinians, most of them displaced.