Israel is threatened with a retaliatory strike from Iran - and says it is prepared for any scenario. Can escalation in the Middle East be averted? The news at a glance.
Tel Aviv/Washington - Israel says it is prepared for a possible retaliatory strike by Iran. “A direct Iranian attack will require an appropriate Israeli response against Iran,” Israeli Defense Minister Joav Galant said in a conversation with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin, the Israeli government announced.
Austin reassured Galant of "the United States' unwavering support for Israel's defense in the face of growing threats from Iran and its regional proxies," the Pentagon said. The army is prepared for an attack against Israel and “the resulting defense,” Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said the same day. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meanwhile called on his colleagues in China, Turkey and Saudi Arabia to stop Iran from escalating. It is not in Iran's interest.
Diplomatic efforts to de-escalate
After a suspected Israeli attack on the Iranian embassy compound in Syria on April 1, threats from Tehran towards Israel recently increased. The attack was like an attack on Iranian territory and Israel must be punished, Iran's head of state Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said.
A number of phone calls have taken place in the past 24 hours, said US Department spokesman Matthew Miller. Similar talks to those with China, Turkey and Saudi Arabia are also being held with European allies and partners. “Escalation is not in Iran’s interest. It is not in the interest of the region. And it is not in the interest of the world,” the ministry spokesman continued.
The US Embassy in Israel issued a security warning for its employees in light of the threats. For reasons of caution, US government employees and their family members are prohibited from traveling outside the metropolitan areas of the cities of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Beer Sheva in the south of the country until further notice, the US Embassy in Jerusalem announced on its website with.
Meanwhile, Lufthansa extended the suspension of planned flights to and from the Iranian capital Tehran. “Due to the current situation, after careful evaluation, Lufthansa is suspending its flights to and from Tehran until Saturday, April 13th,” said a company spokesman in response to a dpa request.
Hamas: Ceasefire needed to find hostages
Meanwhile, fears are growing in the Gaza war that more Israeli hostages could be dead in the contested coastal area than previously thought. The fate of the abductees can only be determined during a ceasefire, said Basem Naim, a member of the political bureau of the Islamist Hamas, in a statement distributed on Telegram.
Part of the negotiations is to reach an agreement on a ceasefire "to allow sufficient time and security to collect final and more accurate data on the captured Israelis." Naim was responding to questions from media representatives as to whether Hamas had rejected the latest US proposal because it could not release 40 hostages in a first phase.
According to media reports, the first phase of a three-stage agreement called for the release of women, soldiers, men over 50 and men under 50 with serious medical problems. However, in recent negotiations, Hamas stated that it did not have 40 living hostages from these categories. The abductees are in various locations in the embattled Gaza Strip and in the hands of various groups, Naim said in the statement. Some of them are also lying “under the rubble” along with killed Palestinians, said the senior Hamas official. “We are negotiating to get heavy equipment for this purpose.”
Negotiations are underway to return to northern Gaza
Israel had previously assumed that almost 100 of the approximately 130 hostages remaining in the sealed-off coastal area were still alive. According to media reports, the US compromise proposal was presented at the negotiations in Cairo. The proposal called for Hamas to release 40 of the hostages in exchange for 900 Palestinian prisoners during a six-week ceasefire.
Israel should in turn allow up to 150,000 displaced Palestinians to return to northern Gaza. Hamas insists on a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops. Israel retains the option of continuing fighting after a ceasefire until complete victory over Hamas.
US development agency assumes famine in the Gaza Strip
Meanwhile, the head of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) assumes that there is already famine in parts of the Gaza Strip. At a hearing in the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US Congress on Wednesday, Samantha Power was asked whether this assessment was particularly true for the north of the sealed-off coastal area. She answered “yes.”
According to US media, Power is the first US government representative to publicly confirm this assessment. The official classification as a famine means that at least 20 percent of the population is affected by an extreme lack of food. Israel is heavily criticized internationally because of the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.
According to Israeli authorities, the contents of around 600 trucks carrying relief supplies have piled up across the border with the coastal area over the past week. In recent days, the amount of aid delivered through the Kerem Shalom and Nitzana border crossings has increased significantly, said the Israeli Cogat authority, which is responsible for contacts with the Palestinians and humanitarian aid.
However, the collection and distribution of relief supplies by the UN organizations made slow progress. “We have extended operating hours and we have allocated additional resources for security checks - now it is your turn to do your job. The bottlenecks are not on the Israeli side,” said a statement from the Israeli authorities. The information could not initially be independently verified.
Disagreement over the application for full UN membership for Palestinians
Meanwhile, a UN Security Council committee has been unable to agree on a common response to a renewed application for full membership of the state of Palestine in the United Nations. Two-thirds of the members supported the motion and five had objections, said Malta's UN ambassador, Vanessa Frazier, who currently chairs the committee, after a meeting in New York.
It said it would disseminate a report on this among the members of the Security Council as soon as possible. It is unlikely that the committee will then recommend a vote on the application. Of the 193 UN member states, 139 have so far recognized Palestine as an independent state. Germany is not one of them. dpa