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7NEWS
3 days ago
- Politics
- 7NEWS
Fears of all-out war as Israel launches ‘preemptive' strikes against Iran
Israel has attacked Iran's capital, with explosions booming across Tehran as Israel says it targeted nuclear and military sites. The strikes were a 'preemptive, precise, combined offensive' that included 'dozens of targets' across different areas of Iran, an Israeli military official said in a press briefing. The attack early on Friday comes as tensions have reached new heights over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program. The Board of Governors at the International Atomic Energy Agency for the first time in 20 years on Thursday censured Iran over it not working with inspectors. Iran immediately announced it would establish a third enrichment site in the country and swap out some centrifuges for more-advanced ones. Israel for years has warned it will not allow Iran to build a nuclear weapon, something Tehran insists it does not want - though official there have repeatedly warned it could build them. The US has been preparing for something to happen, already pulling some diplomats from Iraq's capital and offering voluntary evacuations for the families of US troops in the wider Middle East. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Israel took 'unilateral action against Iran' and that Israel advised the US that it believed the strikes were necessary for its self-defence. 'We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region,' Rubio said in a statement released by the White House. Rubio also issued a warning to Iran that it should not target US interests or personnel. People in Tehran awoke to the sound of the blasts. Both Iran and Israel closed their airspace. It was not immediately clear what had been hit, though smoke could be rising from Chitgar, a neighbourhood in western Tehran. There are no known nuclear sites in that area, but it was not immediately clear if anything was happening in the rest of the country. An Israeli military official says that his country targeted Iranian nuclear sites, without identifying them. The official spoke to journalists on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing operation, which is also targeting military sites. Benchmark Brent crude spiked on the attack, rising nearly five per cent on the news. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said that his country carried out the attack, without saying what it targeted. 'In the wake of the state of Israel's preventive attack against Iran, missile and drone attacks against Israel and its civilian population are expected immediately,' he said in a statement. Katz 'signed a special order declaring an emergency situation in the home front', the statement said. 'It is essential to listen to instructions from the home front command and authorities to stay in protected areas,' it said. Iran halted flights Friday at Imam Khomeini International Airport outside of Tehran, the country's main airport, Iranian state TV said. Iran has closed its airspace in the past when launching previous attacks against Israel during the Israel-Hamas war. As the explosions in Tehran started, President Donald Trump was on the lawn of the White House mingling with members of Congress. It was unclear if he had been informed but the president continued shaking hands and posing for pictures for several minutes. Trump earlier said he was urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off from taking action for the time being while the administration negotiated with Iran. 'As long as I think there is a (chance for an) agreement, I don't want them going in because I think it would blow it,' Trump told reporters.
New York Times
16-04-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Israel Threatens Further Escalation in Gaza War
Israel's defense minister warned on Wednesday that the war in Gaza would soon escalate with 'tremendous force' and an extended humanitarian blockade if Hamas did not quickly release hostages amid stalled cease-fire negotiations. The blunt and detailed statement by the minister, Israel Katz, came as a growing list of former Israeli security officials accused the government of prolonging the war at the expense of the surviving hostages who remain in Gaza. At the same time, the United Nations warned that the humanitarian situation in Gaza was likely at its worst since the conflict began in October 2023, and that the population was once again on the brink of famine. Mr. Katz said Israeli troops would remain in the territory in Gaza that the military had seized last month after the collapse of a six-week cease-fire. During the truce, Hamas freed about 30 living hostages and returned the bodies of eight others. He said the Israeli military would use 'tremendous force, from the air, land and sea' to destroy Hamas bunkers both above and below ground, and keep up the evacuations of Gazans who again are being forced to leave their homes to escape the strikes. Already, hundreds of thousands of Gaza residents have been displaced. These measures aim to 'bring about the release of all the hostages,' Mr. Katz said, while carving out a path to defeat Hamas later. 'If Hamas persists in its refusal, the activity will expand and move to the next stages,' Mr. Katz said. An American proposal, introduced last month by the Trump administration envoy Steve Witkoff, would require Hamas to release some living hostages without guarantees from Israel that it would permanently end the war — something Hamas has been demanding. Hamas has rejected the U.S. plan as well as demands that it disarm as part of an eventual settlement. But frustration is mounting in Israel that the ramped-up war is putting the remaining hostages in greater peril. On Wednesday, hundreds of former senior Israeli police officials joined a group of nearly 1,000 active-duty and reserve forces who had earlier called for a negotiated agreement to free the hostages immediately. And U.N. officials said time was running out for the nearly two million Gazans who depend on foreign aid for survival. The aid that was delivered to Gaza during the cease-fire that ended last month has 'practically run out,' said John Whyte, the acting deputy director of the Gaza operations for UNRWA, the U.N. agency that aids Palestinians. 'We are facing once again the prospect of famine,' Mr. Whyte warned on Tuesday. Separately, the main U.N. agency for humanitarian affairs said that Israel's intensified military operations, aid blockade, evacuation orders and disruption of health care 'are driving what is likely the worst humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip since October 2023.' It cited vast food and water insecurity and attacks on hospitals that have disrupted 'an already decimated health system.' Mr. Katz said that while the Israeli military would continue to block humanitarian aid to Gaza, he also called for 'creating an infrastructure for distribution through civil society later on.' That prompted an immediate backlash from rival officials in Israel's government who accused him of giving into Hamas, which has some control of how food is distributed in the territory. 'Cutting off aid is one of the main levers of pressure on Hamas, and returning it before Hamas gets on its knees and releases all of our hostages would be a historic mistake,' Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right national security minister, said on social media. Mr. Katz said his comments were being distorted by 'those who try to mislead.' 'Israel's policy is clear and no humanitarian aid is about to enter Gaza," he said in a follow-up statement.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Allies wary of Trump admin's incompetence after scandal over military plan group chat
Not only has the scandal over Trump officials discussing military plans in a group chat on an insecure commercial platform made the Trump administration look like fools to Americans paying attention, but overseas allies are drawing conclusions about the risk of sharing intelligence with America when its top officials are so careless with sensitive data. Alexander Ward, national security reporter for the Wall Street Journal, talks with Rachel Maddow about his reporting that it was actually an Isr
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘We're already in hell': Palestinians in despair after Trump threatens Gaza truce
Palestinians in Gaza have said they 'are already living in hell' after Donald Trump vowed to cancel a truce if Hamas does not release all hostages this weekend, as the fragile truce teetered on the verge of collapse. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have returned to northern parts of the besieged strip in recent weeks, camping in the rubble of their homes and still reeling from the loss of dozens of extended family members. With the precarious deal on a knife-edge, Mr Trump said 'all hell will break out' if the hostage release at the weekend did not go as planned. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu backed Mr Trump's threat, saying Israel will resume 'intense' fighting in Gaza if all hostages were not freed at the weekend. 'There is nothing left in Gaza but sand. Does he want to come and take the sand? The whole of Gaza is already hell; there is nothing else,' said Ali Salama, 72, from Beit Lahia, the most destroyed part of Gaza. On Monday, Hamas said it would delay Saturday's expected release of three Israeli hostages, accusing Israel of violating the ceasefire agreement, including shelling the territory and not allowing in the agreed amount of humanitarian aid. Israel hit back with counter-accusations of violations, adding that in response, the army had raised 'the level of readiness', cancelled leave for combat soldiers, and deployed reinforcements to the border areas with Gaza. Pouring fuel on the fire, Mr Trump threatened to cancel the agreement if the militants did not release all their captives by midday Saturday, warning 'all hell is going to break out'. On Tuesday he hosted Jordan's King Abdullah II at the White House as he escalates pressure on the key US ally to take in refugees from Gaza, perhaps permanently. "We're going to take it. We're going to hold it, we're going to cherish it,' Mr Trump said, insisting his plan will 'bring peace' to the region. Mr Salama told The Independent that Israel's ferocious 15-month bombardment of Gaza had killed dozens of his extended family and destroyed at least 10 of their homes, while Israeli forces had detained and disappeared two of his sons, who he said were traders, not militants. 'If Trump wants to strike with missiles, let him strike. He wants to destroy more? I am not afraid. I actually feel like I am already dead. I have no entity left.' Shireen Rashid, 37, who was forced to flee from Khan Younis, another destroyed city in Gaza, echoed his despair, saying, 'there is no way to make more hell in Gaza'. She had lost her home, livelihood, and family members. 'All that is left for them to do is to use a nuclear bomb to kill us and annihilate us all,' she said. Basil al-Kafarna, 43, from Beit Hanoun, said he was forced to bury with his own hands dozens of his relatives, even after the ceasefire came into effect in January. 'We feel death every day from the intensity of the suffering. The killing machine did not stop, and martyrs fell after the ceasefire agreement. No one can guarantee that Israel will not return to fighting. Our people love life and freedom, if they are given the opportunity to live in peace.' In Israel, there were desperate pleas for international mediation from the families of hostages, who are increasingly concerned for the welfare of their loved ones who remain in Hamas captivity in Gaza. The last three people, all men, to be released appeared to be underweight. "The hostages are in clear and present danger. Their lives are at risk," Hagai Levine, a doctor working with the families of hostages, warned on Monday. "Delaying their release means that some of them will not survive." The devastating 15-month war in Gaza has been paused since mid-January under the ceasefire agreement brokered by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States in an attempt to end the conflict. More than 48,000 Palestinians have been killed in the last 16 months, the Gaza Health Ministry says, and nearly all of Gaza's population has been internally displaced by the conflict, which has pushed the territory into famine. Some 1,200 people were killed in the 7 October, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israeli communities, and about 250 were taken to Gaza as hostages, according to Israel. So far, 16 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza have been released as part of this long-awaited deal with Israel, alongside five Thai nationals freed under a separate agreement. Israel says 73 of the captives remain in captivity, although it believes just 35 or so are still alive. The next handover of three hostages had been scheduled for Saturday, but that could be delayed if Hamas follows through with its threat to halt the deal over its accusations against Israel. Families of the hostages are increasingly concerned about the welfare of their loved ones and have appealed for international help from the mediating countries to keep the ceasefire going. On Tuesday, the Israeli military announced that Shlomo Mantzur, 86, believed to have been taken from his home in Kibbutz Kissufim on 7 October, had in fact been killed on the same day. His body had been taken to Gaza and held there, the military added. His family released a statement saying: 'We call upon decision-makers to make a brave and ethical decision to bring all hostages home immediately – the living for rehabilitation and the deceased for proper burial in their homeland.' The forum representing the majority of the families had earlier said that: 'Recent evidence from those released, as well as the shocking conditions of the hostages released last Saturday, leaves no room for doubt. Time is of the essence, and all hostages must be urgently rescued from this horrific situation.' Concerned that the tentative agreement was close to collapsing, UN secretary general Antonio Guterres urged Hamas to proceed with the handovers. He said that the resumption of fighting must be avoided 'at all costs' as it would 'lead to an immense tragedy'. "Both sides must fully abide by their commitments in the ceasefire agreement and resume negotiations in Doha for the second phase," he added. Mr Trump, originally heralded as the catalyst for the ceasefire, has ignited region-wide alarm over his recent proposals that Gaza's 2.2 million Palestinians should be resettled in countries like Egypt and Jordan, while the US takes control and ownership of the demolished seaside enclave, redeveloping it into the "Riviera of the Middle East". Egypt and Jordan have resolutely rejected the suggestion, which has been welcomed by far-right members of Mr Netanyahu's cabinet. Defence minister Israel Katz said on Thursday that he had instructed the Israeli military "to prepare a plan that will allow any resident of Gaza who wishes to leave to do so, to any country willing to receive them". In Israel, security expert Amos Harel said that Mr Trump's threat about 'all hell' breaking loose was another 'bombshell', adding that the truce had never been so close to collapse since it was implemented in January. 'It's extremely dangerous,' he added. 'If we are unable to bring the rest of [the hostages home], and there are around 30 hostages still alive, then what is the point of all of this? This is crucial for society right now.'
