After the suspected Israeli attack on Iran’s embassy compound in Syria, the USA fears a retaliatory strike. Meanwhile, Israel kills sons of Hamas’s foreign chief. The news at a glance.
The US has pledged its support to Israel in the face of threats from Iran. As he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the US commitment to Israel’s security “is ironclad against these threats from Iran and its proxies,” said US President Joe Biden. “Let me say it again: ironclad.”
His Secretary of State Antony Blinken also reiterated in a conversation with Israeli Defense Minister Joav Galant that the US would stand by its ally Israel in the face of “any threats from Iran and its proxies,” said US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller .
US intelligence reports showed that an attack on Israeli facilities by Iran or its proxies could be imminent, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials.
Biden: Iran threatens significant attack
After the alleged Israeli attack on the Iranian embassy compound in Syria, Iran’s head of state Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reiterated his threat against Israel. The attack was like an attack on Iranian territory. “The evil regime (Israel) has made a mistake, in this case it must be punished and will be punished,” the religious leader said.
At the beginning of April, two brigadier generals and five other members of the powerful Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) were killed in an air strike on the Iranian embassy compound. Iran’s leadership has threatened retaliation several times since then – there are fears of an escalation. How and when Iran will react, however, remains completely open.
Biden said at a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida that Iran was “threatening a significant attack on Israel.” “We will do everything we can to protect Israel’s security,” he promised.
Hamas insists on demands
According to the Islamist Hamas, three sons and four grandchildren of Hamas foreign chief Ismail Haniya were killed in an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip. Israel’s army said three members of the Hamas military wing were “taken out” by a fighter jet attack during terrorist activities in the Gaza Strip. The military confirmed that these were the sons of Haniah. There was no confirmation of the deaths of the grandchildren.
“I thank God for the honor he bestowed on us with the martyrdom of my three sons and some grandchildren,” the Qatari television channel Al-Jazeera quoted the Hamas leader as saying. According to the Wall Street Journal, he is said to have ten more children. Haniya said the attack was evidence of Israel’s “failure” and would not affect Hamas’s positions in indirect negotiations over a ceasefire and release of more hostages.
Hamas continues to insist on a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza war, Al-Jazeera reported. Haniya, head of the Hamas politburo, has reportedly been living a luxurious life in Qatar with part of his family for years. He is considered the “overarching” head of the Islamist Hamas, while Jihia al-Sinwar is the head of the Gaza Strip.
The Politburo is considered the highest decision-making body and has 15 members. It is unclear whether the killing of Haniya’s children will significantly change the dynamics of ceasefire negotiations, as decision-making has tended to focus on al-Sinwar and the military wing of Hamas, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Report: Hamas rejects US ceasefire proposal
A compromise proposal put forward by the US in the indirect negotiations for a ceasefire was largely rejected by Hamas, as the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed mediators. The terrorist organization is instead planning to submit its own counterproposal.
Meanwhile, Hamas circles in the Lebanese capital Beirut said that the negotiations remained in the status quo. Israel rejects a permanent end to the war without a decisive victory over Hamas. There is currently no official information on the current status of negotiations. After talks in Cairo, Hamas representatives left the Egyptian capital on Monday for consultations with their leadership.
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Meanwhile, the commander of US troops in the region, General Michael Erik Kurilla, is expected in Israel this week, according to the Wall Street Journal. Even before the attack in Damascus, he had planned to travel to Israel primarily to discuss the logistics of building a temporary shipping dock off the coast of Gaza with the aim of expanding humanitarian aid deliveries.
It is now expected that Iranian threats against Israel and the question of how the USA could respond to them will also be a topic at Kurilla’s talks, it said. According to the report, Kurilla is also expected to meet Israel’s Defense Minister Galant.
Due to the current situation in the Middle East, Lufthansa decided to suspend flights to and from the Iranian capital Tehran until this Thursday. “We are constantly monitoring the situation in the Middle East and are in close contact with the authorities,” it said. The decision was announced on April 6th.
Galant announces opening of new Gaza crossing
Galant had announced the opening of a new crossing in the north of the Gaza Strip. This is one of several steps intended to facilitate the delivery of significantly more aid to the embattled Palestinian territory, he told journalists in Tel Aviv. The aim is to bring goods into the Gaza Strip more quickly via the port of Ashdod and to make security checks easier. The new access in the north is intended to reduce pressure on the existing Kerem Shalom crossing in the south.
“We want to flood Gaza with aid, and we expect to reach 500 trucks a day,” Galant said. Israel is under increasing pressure to allow more humanitarian aid supplies into the area during the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Aid organizations warn of famine. After a clear warning from Biden, Israel announced on Friday that it wanted to open the port of Ashdod and the Erez border crossing for aid transport. So far, Erez in the north is closed. Galant was now apparently referring to an alternative crossing closer to the Mediterranean.
Biden warns Netanyahu: aid deliveries are not enough
US President Biden called on Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to keep his promises to improve humanitarian care in Gaza. The amount of aid that is reaching the coastal area is not yet enough and needs to be increased, said Biden.
At the press conference with Kishida in Washington, he responded to the question of what consequences he would draw if Netanyahu did not change his course and whether he would consider attaching conditions to further arms deliveries to Israel if in doubt. The Democrat said: “We’ll see what he does to keep the commitments he made to me.”
Biden had recently sharply criticized Netanyahu publicly on several occasions and accused him, among other things, of saying that his actions in Gaza were a “mistake.”