On Thursday Israel launched deadly strikes on besieged Gaza as Western governments revealed sweeping sanctions against Iran’s military drone programme in response to the country’s attack on its arch-enemy Israel.
World powers are the witness since Israel promised to retaliate against Iran for the weekend assault. On Thursday Iran warned that if Israel struck Iranian atomic sites during its expected retaliation, Tehran would in turn target Israeli nuclear facilities.
And more than six months into the bloodiest-ever Gaza war, the Israeli army stated that it had bombed dozens of targets in the territory, as Qatar said efforts to broker a truce have stalled.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has promised to destroy Hamas over its October 7 attack that started the war, has stressed that Israel reserves the right to protect itself against Iran.
Last weekend the Islamic Republic last weekend carried out its first-ever attack to target its regional foe but Israel intercepted most of the 300 missiles and drones and suffered no deaths.
Iran’s attack was retaliation for an April 1 air strike, blamed on Israel, which levelled its consulate in Damascus and killed seven Revolutionary Guards.
The international community has urged de-escalation since Iran’s attack. This came after months of violence involving Israel and Iran-backed groups in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
‘The Middle East is on a precipice’, UN chief Antonio Guterres warned on Thursday.
He added, ‘One miscalculation, one miscommunication, one mistake, could lead to the unthinkable a conflict that would be devastating for all involved’.
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