Israel’s defence minister says it will launch ‘appropriate’ response if Iran retaliates over embassy attack in Syria
US seeking to deter Iran from strike on Israel, officials say
The US is seeking to deter Iran from carrying out a retaliatory strike against Israel with concerted declarations of commitment to Israeli security, while at the same time trying to prevent the outbreak of a major regional war, officials in Washington have said.
US officials still believe that a direct Iranian missile or drone strike is possible within the next few days, in retaliation for the Israeli bombing of an Iranian consular building in Damascus on 1 April, which killed a top Islamic Revolutionary Guards general and six other Guard officers.
The developments came as the US restricted the movements of its diplomats in Israel over security fears, the embassy said.
“Out of an abundance of caution, US government employees and their family members are restricted from personal travel” outside the Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Beersheeva areas “until further notice”, an embassy notice on Thursday said.
Israel would rely heavily on US-supplied weaponry in any response to an Iranian strike, a point that Benjamin Netanyahu made implicitly on Thursday, by standing in front of American-made F-15 fighters at the Tel Nof airbase in southern Israel to tell reporters: “Whoever harms us, we will harm them.”
You can read the full piece by Julian Borger and Patrick Wintour here:Irish taoiseach and Spanish PM to discuss Palestine nation state plan
The new Irish taoiseach is to meet the Spanish prime minister to discuss their joint plan to recognise Palestine as a nation state and their attempts to force the EU to assess Israel’s human rights obligations as a condition of their trade deal with the bloc.
Pedro Sánchez, who is due to arrive in Dublin on Friday, is the first foreign premier Simon Harris will meet since his promotion to the office of the taoiseach this week.
In the months since the Hamas attacks of 7 October and Israel’s offensive in Gaza, Spain and Ireland have emerged as the EU’s most pro-Palestinian member states.
On Thursday in Brussels, Harris said he had made clear Ireland’s position on the need for an immediate ceasefire, during a meeting with the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen. He also reiterated its formal request, made with Spain two months ago, to review the Israel-EU association agreement.
“I believe the European Union must use all of the levers at its disposal [to protect the Palestinian people],” Harris said.
His remarks came as he faced sharp criticism from Israel for not mentioning the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza during his debut speech to the Irish parliament as taoiseach.
You can read more on this story here:Opening summary
It has gone 8am in Gaza and 9am in Tel Aviv. This is our latest Guardian live blog on the Israel-Gaza war and the wider Middle East crisis.
Israel’s defence minister has said the country will respond directly to any attack on Israel by Iran, as concerns mount of Iranian retaliation over a deadly Israeli strike in Syria.
“A direct Iranian attack will require an appropriate Israeli response against Iran,” Yoav Gallant told the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, on Thursday, according to Gallant’s office.
