Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared on Wednesday that Israel’s response to last week’s missile barrage from Iran will be “deadly, precise, and surprising.”
“Our attack in Iran will be deadly, precise, and surprising,” Gallant said in a statement shared on social media, emphasising that “those who try to harm the State of Israel will pay a price.”
Meanwhile, the United States has urged Israel to refrain from conducting military operations in Lebanon similar to its ongoing actions in Gaza.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller voiced concerns over the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza.
“I want to make it very clear that there should be no military action in Lebanon that resembles what is happening in Gaza or leaves similar consequences,” Miller said.
His comments were in response to a question about a video released by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.
“You have an opportunity to save Lebanon before it falls into the abyss of a long war that will lead to destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza,” Netanyahu said. “I say to you, the people of Lebanon: Free your country from Hezbollah so that this war can end.”
Hezbollah began low-intensity strikes on Israeli troops a day after its Palestinian ally Hamas staged an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, which triggered war in the Gaza Strip.
The clashes have rapidly escalated this month, with Israel carrying out extensive strikes at both the border and further inside Lebanon, before launching ground operations in the country late last month.
Miller separately said the United States was “particularly concerned” about the humanitarian situation in north Gaza, where the territory’s civil defense agency said Israeli forces have intensified shelling and closed roads, preventing aid delivery.
“We are incredibly concerned about the humanitarian situation in all of Gaza, and particularly concerned about the humanitarian situation in north Gaza, and I can tell you, it has been the subject of some very urgent discussions between our two governments,” he said.
“We have been making clear to the government of Israel that they have an obligation under international humanitarian law to allow food and water and other needed humanitarian assistance to make it into all parts of Gaza,” Miller said.
“We fully expect them to comply with those obligations,” Miller added, while also warning Israel against “conducting operations in Gaza in perpetuity.”
AFP
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