JERUSALEM: The United States said it was working "around the clock" to avert an all-out war in the Middle East, as Israel remained on high alert Tuesday for potential Iranian retaliation for two high-profile killings.
US President Joe Biden, whose country has sent extra warships and fighter jets to the region in support of Israel, held crisis talks on Monday with his national security team.
Biden and his top diplomat Antony Blinken sought to calm tensions that have soared since a suspected Israeli attack in Tehran last Wednesday killed Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Biden called King Abdullah II of Jordan, whose country helped down Iranian drones and missiles in an attack on Israel in April, while Blinken called top officials in Qatar and Egypt, the key intermediaries seeking a ceasefire in the 10-month Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
"We are engaged in intense diplomacy, pretty much around the clock, with a very simple message -- all parties must refrain from escalation," Blinken said after joining other top officials in a White House meeting.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian hit out on Monday at what he called the "criminal acts" of Israel "against the oppressed and defenceless people of Gaza" as well as for Haniyeh's killing.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran is in no way seeking to expand the scope of war and crisis in the region, but this regime will definitely receive the response for its crimes and arrogance," Pezeshkian said during talks with a senior visiting Russian official, according to the official news agency IRNA.
The attack -- which Israel has not directly commented on -- came hours after an Israeli strike on Beirut killed the military chief of Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, Fuad Shukr.
Israel held Shukr responsible for a rocket attack in the annexed Golan Heights that killed 12 children, calling him the "right-hand man" of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.
Nasrallah was due to give a speech Tuesday to mark one week since Shukr's death.
Hezbollah has engaged in near-daily cross-border clashes with Israeli troops since the day after Hamas attacked Israel in early October.
The group claimed several attacks on Israel on Tuesday, including one with "explosive-laden drones" targeting a barracks north of the coastal town of Acre.
In southern Lebanon, five Hezbollah fighters were killed in an Israel strike, according to a Lebanese security source.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, on a visit to Cairo, acknowledged that there was "a possibility of a war between us and Israel... We can't deny that."
A European diplomat in Tel Aviv said "a coordinated response" from Iran and its proxies was expected against Israel but de-escalation efforts persisted.
"That doesn't mean there will be a simultaneous response from all fronts," he added, declining to be identified as he was not authorised to speak on the issue.
"We're telling them they have to stop playing with fire, because the risk of flare-ups is higher than at any time since October 7," he said.
Turkey on Monday joined multiple governments calling on their citizens to leave Lebanon, where Hezbollah is based, while China urged increased caution.
Numerous airlines have suspended flights to Lebanon or limited them to daylight hours.
Lebanese national carrier Middle East Airlines put on extra flights for people wanting to leave or return, a company source said.
The Jeddah-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation is to meet on Wednesday at the request of "Palestine and Iran", to discuss developments in the region, an OIC official said.
The United Nations' rights chief Volker Turk called on "all parties, along with those states with influence, to act urgently to de-escalate what has become a very precarious situation".
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein in a joint statement Monday "agreed to make every effort to avoid a regional escalation". Italy holds the rotating presidency of the G7 group of countries.
The Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, triggered by the Palestinian group's October 7 attack on Israel, has already drawn in Iran-backed militants in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen.
The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Palestinian militants seized 251 hostages, 111 of whom are still held captive in Gaza, including 39 the Israeli military says are dead.
In Tel Aviv on Monday thousands of Israelis gathered to mark the fifth birthday of child hostage Ariel Bibas, and to call for the liberation of him and his family.
Israel's retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 39,653 people, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, which does not give details of civilian and militant deaths.
In the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials said that Israeli forces killed eight people in two separate raids on Tuesday.
US working 'around the clock' to avert Mideast escalation
https://arab.news/cpgdq
US working 'around the clock' to avert Mideast escalation
- Biden called King Abdullah II of Jordan, whose country helped down Iranian drones and missiles in an attack on Israel in April
- "We are engaged in intense diplomacy, pretty much around the clock, with a very simple message -- all parties must refrain from escalation," Blinken said
Israeli bombardment kills 29 people in Gaza, militants renew rocket fire into Israel
CAIRO: Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 29 Palestinians on Friday, medics said, and sirens blared in southern Israel in response to renewed rocket fire from militants in the Palestinian enclave.
The new rocket salvoes indicated that Hamas-led militant factions in Gaza are still able to fire projectiles into Israel despite a year-long Israeli aerial and ground offensive that has turned wide areas of the enclave into wasteland.
On Friday, the Israeli military said sirens sounded in southern Israel for the first time in around two months.
“Almost a year after Oct. 7, Hamas is still threatening our civilians with their terrorism and we will continue operating against them,” it added, referring to the anniversary of Hamas’ cross-border attack that touched off the Gaza war.
Dramatic footage shows moment oil tanker struck by Houthi drone
- Group releases video of explosion engulfing Cordelia Moon as it passed through Red Sea
- Houthis have threatened to ‘escalate military operations’ after Israeli air raids last week
LONDON: Footage has been released of an oil tanker being struck by a Houthi drone vessel in the Red Sea.
The group published a video appearing to show the unmanned boat colliding with the Panama-flagged Cordelia Moon on Tuesday.
In the footage, a large explosion is seen on the vessel’s port side, followed by a plume of smoke engulfing the tanker. Its crew reported no major injuries and that all aboard are safe.
The attack reportedly occurred about 70 miles (110 km) off the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah, which is controlled by the militia.
The Houthis later claimed responsibility for the attack, which it said involved eight ballistic and winged missiles, a drone and an unmanned boat.
The US Navy said that the captain of a nearby vessel reported seeing four “splashes” in the water around the Cordelia Moon, believed to have been caused by missiles launched at the tanker missing their target.
Though the Houthis described the Cordelia Moon as a British ship, it is managed by an Indian company called Margao Marine Solutions.
Meanwhile, British security firm Amber reported that a second vessel, sailing under the Liberian flag, was struck by a missile about 97 nautical miles northwest of Hodeidah later that day as it traveled toward the Suez Canal. Its crew also reported no major injuries and that all aboard are safe.
The two attacks represent a return to the targeting of commercial shipping by the Houthis after a brief hiatus in operations.
The group began attacking vessels in the region following Israel’s invasion of Gaza last year.
The Houthis have also launched drone and missile attacks against Israel since the start of hostilities, and on Monday threatened to “escalate military operations” after shooting down a US military drone as it flew over Yemen. That incident followed a series of Israeli air raids over Houthi-occupied Yemen last week, which hit a number of military and oil installations.
Three Lebanese hospitals suspend services amid Israeli bombing: statements
- Sainte Therese Hospital near Beirut’s southern suburbs reported “huge damage” to the building
BEIRUT: Three hospitals in Lebanon including one on the outskirts of Beirut’s southern suburbs announced Friday the suspension of work, amid ongoing Israeli bombardment.
In statements carried by the official National News Agency, Sainte Therese Hospital near Beirut’s southern suburbs reported “huge damage” to the building on Thursday due to Israeli bombardment in the vicinity and the subsequent “halt of hospital services,” while two hospitals in the country’s south also said services had stopped.
Israeli military says it has killed around 250 Hezbollah fighters in ground operation
- The military was still assessing the damage caused by airstrikes in southern Beirut
JERUSALEM: The Israeli military estimates it has killed around 250 Hezbollah fighters, including a number of battalion and company commanders, since the start of its ground operation in Lebanon earlier this week, a military spokesperson said on Friday.
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said the military was still assessing the damage caused by airstrikes in southern Beirut on Thursday night, which he said targeted Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters.
Iran FM says backs efforts for simultaneous Gaza-Lebanon ceasefire
- “We support the efforts for a ceasefire,” Iran’s FM Abbas Araghchi said
BEIRUT: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday said his country backed efforts for a simultaneous ceasefire with Israel in both the Palestinian territory of Gaza and Lebanon.
“We support the efforts for a ceasefire, provided that first, the rights of the Lebanese people are respected and it is accepted by the (Hezbollah) resistance, and second, that it comes simultaneously with a ceasefire in Gaza,” he said during a visit to Beirut.
