West tells Iran to ‘renounce’ Israel’s threats of attacks as war fears rise

Washington:

The United States and European allies called on Iran to “stand down” on Monday as fears grew of an imminent attack on Israel that could trigger an all-out war in the Middle East.

Tensions are rising in the region, with the United States attacking a missile submarine and a group of aircraft carriers, in a show of support for its main ally.

Iran and its Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, have promised revenge for the murder of the political leader of the Palestinian group Hamas in Tehran and a Hezbollah commander in Beirut.

International efforts to prevent an Iranian attack have intensified, with US President Joe Biden and the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Britain warning Tehran in a joint statement on Monday.

“We call on Iran to abandon its ongoing threats of a military attack against Israel and discuss the serious consequences for regional security if such an attack were to occur,” they said after speaking on Monday.

The White House warned that a “significant set of attacks” by Iran and its proxies would be possible as early as this week, saying that Israel shared the same assessment.

As frenzied diplomacy continued, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer appealed to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to call for de-escalation.

But Pezeshkian said Monday that his country has the “right to respond to aggressors.”

Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh was in Tehran for the inauguration of the new Iranian president last month when Haniyeh was killed in an attack that Iran blamed on Israel.

Israel assassinated Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut a day earlier, leaving the region on edge.

– ‘There is no more time to waste’ –
Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said his country was “ready to thwart any threat in real time” but added that he was “not familiar” with reports that Iran was expected to launch an attack within the next 24 hours. hours.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the country had strengthened defenses and organized “offensive options” as “threats from Tehran and Beirut could materialize.”

Meanwhile, Washington and the four European nations intensified their calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, considering the conflict triggered by Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7 as the root cause of tensions in the Middle East.

They supported the call by Biden and the leaders of Egypt and Qatar for the renewal of negotiations between Israel and Hamas this Thursday, “and emphasized that there is no more time to lose.”

They also called for the “unrestricted” delivery of aid to devastated Gaza.

The pressure to end the fighting in the Gaza Strip and for Hamas to release its hostages came at a time when the militant group’s armed wing claimed to have killed an Israeli prisoner and injured two more in “incidents”.

The Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement that two of its fighters “assigned to protect” the hostages shot at them in “two separate incidents” and that a commission had been formed to investigate.

Hamas urged mediators to implement a truce plan previously presented by Biden rather than hold more talks.

But Israel accepted an invitation from the United States, Qatar and Egypt to send negotiators.

“The reason we are doing this is to finalize the details of implementing the framework agreement,” Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said at a news conference.

– ‘Stop this war’ –
Pressure for a ceasefire in Gaza grew after civil defense rescuers in Hamas-controlled territory said an Israeli airstrike on Saturday killed 93 people at a school housing displaced Palestinians.

Israel said it targeted militants operating outside the school and mosque.

On Monday, witnesses told AFP that Israel hit Khan Yunis and Rafah in the air. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, which has been fighting alongside Hamas in Gaza, said its militants were fighting Israeli troops in Khan Yunis.

At the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, Suhail Abu Batihan said Israeli bombing was “causing terror” among residents, calling on mediators and “the world… to intervene to stop this war”.

The war in Gaza began with the Hamas attack on October 7 in southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,198 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP report based on official Israeli data.

The militants also arrested 251 people, 111 of whom are still held captive in Gaza, including 39 who the military says are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory military offensive in Gaza has killed at least 39,897 people, according to a new figure from the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not provide a breakdown of civilian and militant deaths.

(Except the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)