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Israel and the pro-Iranian Hezbollah are shooting at each other daily. The Jewish state is urging the USA to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Time is running out. The news at a glance.
Washington/Tel Aviv – The US has warned of a war between Israel and the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, which is allied with Iran, and wants to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons. “Hezbollah’s provocations threaten to drag the Israeli and Lebanese people into a war they do not want, and such a war would be a catastrophe for Lebanon,” said US Defense Minister Lloyd Austin at a meeting with his Israeli counterpart Joav Galant in Washington.
Galant warned urgently against Iran’s nuclear armament. “The greatest threat to the future of the world is Iran,” he said. Time is running out to prevent the country from acquiring nuclear weapons. “We stand together to ensure that Iran, which is the source of so much violence and instability in the region, can never acquire a nuclear weapon,” Austin assured.
Hezbollah in Lebanon is considered the most important ally of Iran, for which Israel is the arch enemy. Austin said he was “extremely concerned” about the increase in Hezbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel and the recent increase in tensions. “Another war between Israel and Hezbollah could easily escalate into a regional war with terrible consequences for the Middle East,” warned the US Secretary of Defense. Diplomacy is “by far the best way to prevent further escalation.”
Canada calls on its compatriots to leave Lebanon
Canada called on its citizens to leave Lebanon amid fears of war. “The security situation in Lebanon is becoming increasingly unstable and unpredictable due to the ongoing and escalating violence between Hezbollah and Israel and could deteriorate further without warning,” Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said in a statement.
It is “time to leave while commercial flights are still available.” Since the Gaza war began following the massacre by Hezbollah-allied Hamas in Israel almost nine months ago, pro-Iranian groups as well as Iran itself have attacked Israel with rockets, grenades and drones.
Galant reminds Washington of threat from Iran
“Now is the time to implement the commitment made by the American governments over the past years – the promise to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons,” said Israel’s Defense Minister Galant. Iran has repeatedly denied that it wants to develop nuclear weapons.
After Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently verbally attacked the US government in a video over a withheld arms shipment, Galant praised the cooperation in defending Israel against Iran “and its proxies” during his meeting with his US counterpart Austin.
USA seeks diplomatic solution
According to information from the US news portal “Axios”, Israel and its allies in the USA have agreed to reschedule a meeting on the Iran crisis, which was originally planned for last week and is headed by their respective national security advisors, and is expected to take place in Washington in mid-July. The USA is trying to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah – so far without success.
Israel wants the militia to withdraw behind the Litani River, 30 kilometers from the border, in accordance with a UN resolution. If necessary, Israel is also prepared to carry out a major military operation, Galant recently warned. The readiness must be discussed “for every possible scenario,” he said in Washington. According to the US broadcaster CNN, high-ranking US representatives assured members of an Israeli delegation that the US would give Israel full backing should a major war with Hezbollah break out.
Meanwhile, Austin called on Galant to step up efforts to protect Palestinian civilians and humanitarian workers in the embattled Gaza Strip. Israel is in a tough fight against “a cruel and ruthless enemy,” but you can only win an urban war if you protect civilians. “Therefore, Israel must continue to do more to protect Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, and this is both a moral imperative and a strategic imperative,” warned the US Secretary of Defense.
Israel’s army: Hamas fires on soldiers at UN aid convoy
According to Israeli sources, Hamas fired a missile at Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip who were supposed to protect a UN aid convoy. The forces had coordinated a transport from the children’s aid organization Unicef. The transport was supposed to bring children from the north of the sealed-off coastal area together with their relatives in the south, said the army and the Israeli authority responsible for Palestinian affairs, Cogat.
According to the report, no one was injured. Hamas is taking advantage of the military’s attempts to provide humanitarian aid, according to the army. The Islamist organization is thereby endangering the lives of the civilian population, it said. The information provided by the Israeli military could not initially be independently verified.
According to the United Nations, the danger for humanitarian workers in the Gaza Strip is becoming increasingly unbearable. “There are risks that are unacceptable,” said spokesman Stéphane Dujarric in New York. He confirmed that the UN sent a letter to the Israeli authorities last week expressing this concern. Despite the increase in aid deliveries to northern Gaza, internationally recognized experts believe there is still a high risk of famine in the sealed-off coastal area.
Military reports killing of “significant” Islamist member
Meanwhile, the Israeli military announced that it had killed a “significant” member of the terrorist organization Islamic Jihad in an air raid in the Gaza Strip. The man had developed the organization’s rocket arsenal, it said. Terrorists from the Islamist Hamas and other extremist groups carried out the worst massacre in the history of the Jewish state in Israel’s border region with the Gaza Strip on October 7 last year. They killed more than 1,200 people and abducted more than 250 others to Gaza. The terrorist attack triggered the war. dpa
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