JERUSALEM: An Israeli cabinet minister warned on Sunday of possible direct or proxy Iranian attacks on Israel should the stand-off between Tehran and Washington escalate.
The United States has increased economic and military pressure on Iran, with President Donald Trump on Thursday urging its leaders to talk to him about giving up their nuclear program and saying he could not rule out an armed confrontation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, which supports Trump’s hard tack against its arch-foe, has largely been reticent about the spiralling tensions.
Parting with the silence, Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said that, in the Gulf, “things are heating up.”
“If there’s some sort of conflagration between Iran and the United States, between Iran and its neighbors, I’m not ruling out that they will activate Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad from Gaza, or even that they will try to fire missiles from Iran at the State of Israel,” Steinitz, a member of Netanyahu’s security cabinet, told Israel’s Ynet TV.
Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad are Iranian-sponsored guerrilla groups on Israel’s borders, the former active in Syria as well as Lebanon and the latter in the Palestinian territories.
The Israeli military declined to comment when asked if it was making any preparations for possible threats linked to the Iran-US standoff.
Israel has traded blows with Iranian forces in Syria, as well as with Hezbollah in Lebanon and Palestinian militants. But it has not fought an open war with Iran, a country on the other side of the Middle East.
Iran may attack Israel if US standoff escalates: Israeli minister
Iran may attack Israel if US standoff escalates: Israeli minister
- The US has increased economic and military pressure on Iran
- Donald Trump urged its leaders to talk to him about giving up Iran's nuclear program
Pakistani, Bangladeshi officials reaffirm strong ties, discuss trade and regional issues
- The statement comes after Pakistani and Bangladeshi foreign ministry officials’ meeting in Jeddah on the sidelines of an OIC session
- Pakistan, Bangladesh, which split in 1971, have moved closer since the ouster of former PM Sheikh Hasina, an India ally, in Aug. 2024
ISLAMABAD: Top Pakistani and Bangladeshi officials on Sunday reaffirmed the strength of their relations as they discussed bilateral, regional and global issues, the Pakistani foreign ministry said.
The statement came after a meeting between Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Bangladesh’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Touhid Hossain on the sidelines of an extraordinary session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Jeddah.
Pakistan and Bangladesh were part of the same country until Bangladesh’s secession following a bloody civil war in 1971, an event that long cast a shadow over bilateral ties. Both countries have moved closer since 2024, following the ouster of former premier Sheikh Hasina who was considered an India ally.
The two foreign ministry officials discussed a range of regional and global issues as well bilateral cooperation in diverse fields, according to a Pakistani foreign ministry statement.
“Both dignitaries expressed satisfaction over the robustness of Pakistan-Bangladesh relations,” the statement read. “They discussed bilateral relations in diverse fields, especially high-level exchanges, trade, and educational collaboration.”
Dar arrived in Saudi Arabia on Friday to attend the 22nd OIC Council of Foreign Ministers held in Jeddah on Jan. 10 to discuss Israel’s move last month to recognize Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia, as a separate nation. The act has drawn sharp criticism from Muslim nations worldwide.
Muslim countries, including Pakistan, believe the move could be part of Tel Aviv’s plan to forcibly relocate Palestinian Muslims to Somaliland. Several international news outlets last year reported that Israel had contacted Somaliland over the potential resettlement of Palestinians forcibly removed from Gaza.
“We believe that such recognition of an integral part of a sovereign state is not a diplomatic act, but an act of political aggression that sets a perilous precedent, threatening peace and security in the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea region, and beyond,” Dar told participants of the meeting in Jeddah.
The Pakistani foreign minister said Islamabad considers the move a flagrant violation of international law and a direct assault on the territorial integrity of Somalia. He called on all states to refrain from engaging with Somaliland authorities.
