WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden on Wednesday promised “ironclad” support for Israel as Iran threatens reprisals over a strike that leveled an Iranian consulate building in Damascus and killed two generals.
Biden’s promise comes despite his public criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the toll on civilians in Israel’s campaign against Hamas, especially after a strike killed seven aid workers.
Iran is “threatening to launch a significant attack on Israel,” Biden told a news conference.
“As I told Prime Minister Netanyahu, our commitment to Israel’s security against these threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad,” Biden said.
“Let me say it again — ironclad. We’re going to do all we can to protect Israel’s security,” said Biden, who was speaking next to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
US officials have voiced alarm over the prospect of an imminent strike against Israeli interests after Israel on April 1 destroyed the consulate building, killing seven members of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards including two generals.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned in a speech Wednesday that the “evil regime” of Israel “must be punished and will be punished.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz swiftly riposted, in a Persian-language statement on social media site X, “If Iran attacks from its territory, Israel will respond and attack Iran.”
Iran’s clerical state supports Hamas, which on October 7 launched the deadliest attack against Israel in the country’s history, triggering a relentless six-month Israeli military operation inside the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
The United States since the start of the war has sought to prevent it from spreading including to Lebanon, where Iran supports the Shiite militant movement Hezbollah.
The United States has been tightlipped in its public reaction to the April 1 strike, saying it has not determined whether Israel struck a diplomatic facility, which would violate international agreements on the inviolability of embassies and consulates.
Biden promises Israel ‘ironclad’ support against Iran reprisals
https://arab.news/pgcwp
Biden promises Israel ‘ironclad’ support against Iran reprisals
- Biden’s promise comes despite his public criticism of Netanyahu over civilian deaths in Gaza
- US has tried to prevent the spread of the war since Israel began airstrikes on Gaza last October
Gazan family takes legal action against UK govt for preventing them settling in Britain
- Family members trying to reunite with their father but have been refused key travel documents
- Gaza currently has no facilities to collect biometric data that UK requires
LONDON: A Palestinian family is taking legal action against the British government over a decision to bar them from settling in the UK.
The six family members, ranging in age from 14 to 23 years old, are seeking to leave Gaza and reunite with their father, but have been denied entry for security reasons.
UK government lawyers said it is official policy not to allow access to the country without biometric data, which is currently impossible to obtain or submit in Gaza.
In order to gather the relevant data, the family would need to exit Gaza via Jordan, which would require the provision of onward travel assurances by the UK government, which have not been granted.
At a court hearing on Monday, government lawyer Rory Dunlop said via written submission that giving the OTAs would be a “step too far” from current policy.
“An OTA is an exception to that policy because it requires the Secretary of State for the Home Department to guarantee entry before biometrics have been checked,” he said.
“Every exception to Her (His) Majesty’s Government biometric policy carries risks to national and border security because the individual may pose a risk that can only be identified by their biometrics.
“That is particularly so in a case, as here, where some of the claimants seeking an OTA are adults living in an area where there has been significant terrorist activity.”
The family say the decision to reject their applications is a breach of their human rights. Lawyer Charlotte Kilroy, acting on behalf of the family, said each member could prove their identity via their passports, and Israeli authorities had already approved their application to transit through the country to Jordan.
“Israel uses tools of mass-surveillance in Gaza, meaning any risks they posed related to terrorism activity in the region would have been identified,” Kilroy said.
“The claimants have never left Gaza, meaning there is no real prospect of their data being held or showing risk to the public interest in UK biometric checks.”
At an earlier hearing in December, when the decision was taken to reject the applications, Kilroy noted that the family’s father was taking medication to improve his mental health as the situation had left him worried over the safety of his relatives.
Earlier, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood won the right to restrict migrants using the European Convention on Human Rights to settle in the UK, after the Court of Appeal agreed with her that a scheme opened for Ukrainian refugees could not be used by others, following a Palestinian family’s attempts to use it to justify coming to Britain.
