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Middle East crisis live: Israel will ‘make its own decision’ on Iran after UK and Germany call for restraint
Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments came after UK foreign minister David Cameron and his German counterpart travelled to Israel for talks4m ago17.02 CEST
Closing summary
It has just gone 5pm in Gaza and 6pm in Tel Aviv. We will be closing this blog soon, but you can stay up to date on the Guardian’s Middle East coverage here.Here is a recap of the latest developments:
- Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the visiting foreign ministers of Germany and Britain for their support on Wednesday but said Israel would reach its own decisions on its security. “They have all sorts of suggestions and advice. I appreciate that. But I want to make it clear – we will make our own decisions, and the state of Israel will do everything necessary to defend itself”. Israel is still expected to respond to the unprecedented state-on-state attacked launched at it by Iran at the weekend.
- Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi warned in Tehran on Wednesday morning that the “tiniest” invasion by Israel on Iranian soil would bring a “massive and harsh” response. Raisi said the weekend’s attack was a limited one, and that if Iran had wanted to carry out a bigger attack, “nothing would remain from the Zionist regime”. Raisi was speaking at Iran’s national army day parade. At the same event, Iranian army chief commander, Maj Gen Abdolrahim Mousavi, said that any aggression against Iran’s interests will be met with a “firm and regret-inducing response”.
- German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said she made clear to Netanyahu that the Middle East must not be allowed to slide into a situation whose outcome is completely unpredictable. “Because that would serve no one,” she said. “Not Israel’s security, not the many dozens of hostages still in the hands of Hamas, not the suffering population of Gaza, not the many people in Iran who are themselves suffering under the regime, and not the third countries in the region who simply want to live in peace.”
- UK foreign minister David Cameron has also called for restraint, saying while it was clear the Israelis were preparing to act, the UK “hopes they do so in a way that does as little to escalate this as possible”.
- The 25 crew members of the MSC Aries, which was seized by Iran on 13 April, are safe, shipping firm MSC said on Wednesday, adding that discussions with Iranian authorities are in progress to secure their earliest release. “We are also working with the Iranian authorities to have the cargo discharged,” the Swiss headquartered company said in a statement.
- Netanyahu’s office issued a statement which also said he had told Cameron and Baerbock that Israel rejected claims by international organizations that there was starvation in Gaza. In March the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) stated that 1.1 million people in the Gaza Strip were experiencing catastrophic food insecurity.
- Negotiations between Israel and Hamas to secure a truce in Gaza and a release of hostages have stalled, Qatar’s prime minister said on Wednesday. “We are going through a sensitive stage with some stalling, and we are trying as much as possible to address this,” he said.
- At least 18 people were injured earlier, one critically, when what appears to have been a Hezbollah-fired rocket or drone hit a community centre in the northern border village of Arab al-Aramshe. Israel’s military said it subsequently struck at the source of the projectile. It marks the third consecutive day Hezbollah strikes have injured people inside Israel.
- Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Israel has “intensified airstrikes on Gaza City and the central Gaza Strip, killing dozens and injuring others with various wounds, amid widespread property destruction”. The Hamas-led health authority in Gaza said Israel’s military offensive had now killed 33,899 people since 7 October.
- Turkey’s foreign minister Hakan Fidan met Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Tuesday during a visit to Qatar to discuss humanitarian aid to Gaza, ceasefire efforts and hostages, it was revealed. Haniyeh will visit Turkey at the weekend to hold talks with Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
- Israel’s government has accelerated the construction of settlements across East Jerusalem, with more than 20 projects totalling thousands of housing units having been approved or advanced since the start of the war in Gaza six months ago, planning documents show.
- Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani on Wednesday called on Israel to halt its military operations in Gaza. The call comes ahead of Tajani hosting a G7 foreign ministers meeting which is expected to press for further sanctions on Iran.
- The US is also expected to impose new sanctions, with national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, saying they will target Tehran’s missile and drone program, Revolutionary Guards and defence ministry.
- Israel’s cabinet on Wednesday approved a five-year, 19bn shekel ($5bn) plan to rebuild and strengthen communities near the Gaza border after the 7 October attack by Hamas militants, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said. Netanyahu said Israel would invest the funds in housing, infrastructure, education, employment, health and other areas.
- Al Jazeera confirmed that Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (Unrwa), will brief the Security Council at a meeting requested by Jordan. According to the report, the session is due to begin at 7pm GMT/8pm BST on Wednesday.
Middle East crisis live: Israel will âmake its own decisionâ on Iran after UK and Germany call for restraint
Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments came after UK foreign minister David Cameron and his German counterpart travelled to Israel for talks
www.theguardian.com
نتنياهو وخامنئي يلعبان اللعبة نفسها منذ 30 سنة ولا تعرف ايهما اشد غدرا ووقاحة ودجلا على الناس غير اولاد الحرام من كلاب موزة في الجزيرة وابن زايد وابن سلمان وخنازيرهم طبعا
وجمهور اعمى غارق حتى الاذقان بالكبتاغون ! الاعلامي والحقيقي !
