Israel Defense Forces use Iron Dome system to intercept Iran assaults
Israel’s Iron Dome protection system helped intercept 300 drones and missiles launched by Iran.
The Middle East is on the “precipice” of a broader battle that may be averted with a two-state resolution permitting Israel and Palestine to exist side-by-side with Jerusalem as a shared capital, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres advised the Security Council on Thursday.
However, that resolution will not come from fast U.S. recognition of a Palestinian state after the U.S. vetoed within the Security Council a draft decision to that impact Thursday.
Guterres’ feedback got here as Tehran warned it has the power to strike Israeli nuclear websites if Israel targets Iran’s nuclear amenities.
Guterres stated a two-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian disaster is the premise of U.N. resolutions, worldwide regulation and former agreements. The present Israeli authorities, nonetheless, has proven little curiosity in relinquishing management of the occupied territories.
“One miscalculation, one miscommunication, one mistake, might result in the unthinkable – a full-scale regional battle that will be devastating for all concerned and for the remainder of the world,” he stated.
Guterres referred to as on Israel because the “occupying energy” to guard the Palestinian inhabitants within the West Bank in opposition to violence and intimidation and to permit protected passage for humanitarian assist into Gaza.
“Let me be clear − the dangers are spiraling on many fronts,” he stated. “We have a shared duty to deal with these dangers and pull the area again from the precipice.”
Netanyahu on strike: Israel says it’ll make its ‘personal selections’ on retaliation
Developments:
∎The European Council stated new sanctions could be imposed on Iran’s drone and missile packages as punishment for the weekend’s attack on Israel.
∎ The U.S. and Israel have been to carry a digital assembly Thursday about Israeli’s deliberate navy operation in Rafah, Reuters reported, citing a U.S. official it didn’t identify. The U.S. and a lot of the world has been urging Israel to drop plans for an invasion of the southern Gaza metropolis that has been overwhelmed by Palestinians fleeing preventing elsewhere within the enclave.
∎ Two-thirds of Gaza residences have been destroyed or broken for the reason that battle started in October, UNICEF reported.
∎ A particular State Department panel really useful months in the past that Secretary of State Antony Blinken disqualify a number of Israeli navy and police models from receiving U.S. assist after reviewing allegations of significant human rights abuses. ProPublica reported. Blinken has up to now not acted on the suggestions.
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The U.S. veto of a draft decision to grant Palestinians membership within the U.N. doesn’t imply the Biden administration opposes their statehood, however relatively that this isn’t the way in which to realize it, a senior American official stated after the Security Council vote Thursday.
“The United States continues to strongly support a two-state solution,” Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Robert Wood told the council. “This vote does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood, but instead is an acknowledgment that it will only come from direct negotiations between the parties.”
The administration has been pushing for a reformed Palestinian Authority to take over governing Gaza after the battle and for Israel to comply with a path for future Palestinian statehood, which the federal government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fiercely opposes.
Nonetheless, PA President Mahmoud Abbas was furious over the American vote, the one one solid within the Security Council in opposition to a measure to advocate to the U.N. General Assembly that “the State of Palestine be admitted to membership.” Britain and Switzerland abstained, and the opposite 12 nations voted in favor.
Abbas referred to as the U.S. choice “unfair, unethical, and unjustified,” saying in a press release that it challenged “the will of the international community, which strongly supports Palestine’s full membership.”
Iran might alter its peaceable “nuclear doctrine” and if Israel targets Iranian nuclear websites “we are going to certainly and categorically reciprocate with superior missiles in opposition to their very own nuclear websites,” a senior commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stated Thursday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is contemplating retaliating in opposition to Tehran for its weekend missile and drone attack.
Tehran has repeatedly claimed its nuclear program is for civilian functions. Israel has accused Iran of trying to acquire nuclear strike functionality and has lengthy pledged to not enable that to occur.
“The threats of the Zionist regime (Israel) against Iran’s nuclear facilities make it possible to review our nuclear doctrine and deviate from our previous considerations,” Ahmad Haghtalab, the IRGC commander in charge of nuclear security, told Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency.
Tehran’s retaliatory attack came less than two weeks after an airstrike linked to Israel destroyed Iran’s consulate in Damascus, killing several high-ranking Iranian military officers.
New York City police arrested over 100 people Thursday after Columbia University students set up encampments to protest Israel’s war in Gaza.
Video showed NYPD forcibly moving students out of tents at the center of Columbia’s campus in Manhattan. University President Minouche Shafik told police the encampments began early Wednesday morning with more than 100 people occupying the South Lawn of the campus.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams confirmed the NYPD made more than 108 arrests.
Demonstrators were warned multiple times that they were not allowed to occupy the space and needed to disperse, Shafik said. All those participating were told they were trespassing and have been suspended, she said.
On Wednesday, Shafik appeared before a congressional hearing in Washington, D.C., regarding antisemitism on campus. She defended free speech, but when asked whether calling for the genocide of Jewish people would violate Columbia’s rules, she said yes.
− Eduardo Cuevas
Criticism in the U.S. Congress helped fuel Qatar’s decision to announce a re-evaluation of its role as mediator in hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas, a senior Arab official tod The Times of Israel. The majority of Qatar’s frustration is directed at the Israeli government, which has led much of the criticism against Doha, the official said. But he added that recent remarks from Congress members also played a role in the decision.
Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland called for the US to re-evaluate its ties to Qatar if Doha fails to pressure Hamas in the negotiations, and a group of Republican lawmakers submitted legislation aimed at stripping Doha of its coveted status as a major non-NATO ally.
The Treasury Department announced sanctions Thursday for 16 people and multiple companies linked to production of drones used in Iran’s “unprecedented” weekend attack on Israeli territory. The sanctions target the Iranian drone program and steel and auto industries accused of working on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The department statement notes that Iran’s metals sector generates several billion dollars in revenue annually, mostly from steel exports. The sanctions were coordinated with Britain and in consultation with “partners and allies,” the statement said.
“We’re using Treasury’s economic tools to degrade and disrupt key aspects of Iran’s malign activity, including its UAV program and the revenue the regime generates to support its terrorism,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stated. “We will proceed to deploy our sanctions authority to counter Iran with additional actions within the days and weeks forward.”
Tehran, earlier than launching retaliatory strikes at Israeli targets final weekend, notified U.S. officers that American navy bases and pursuits within the area wouldn’t be focused except Washington aided in Israeli assaults on Iranian pursuits, a high Iranian official stated Thursday. White House nationwide safety spokesperson John Kirby has stated the United States did change messages with Iran however has dismissed as “ridiculous” claims that U.S. officers have been knowledgeable of Iran’s timeframe or targets.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian advised the Islamic Republican News Agency the messages have been exchanged by way of the Swiss Embassy, which represents U.S. pursuits in Iran to stop the escalation of tensions. Iran had exercised restraint “contemplating the regional circumstances” however repeatedly requested the U.N. secretary-general and Security Council to satisfy their duties and confront Israel’s actions. Tehran then determined to provoke the strikes on Israeli targets.
Israel stated 99% of the roughly 350 “suicide drones, cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and rockets” launched from Iran, Iraq, Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon have been intercepted.
Contributing: Reuters
