Israel pounds Gaza as Iran attack threat puts Middle East on edge
Fears that Iran could soon launch an attack on Israel spurred some countries to advise its citizens to avoid visiting the region
GAZA STRIP: Residents reported heavy Israeli fire in central Gaza on Friday, with regional tensions soaring after Iran threatened reprisals over a strike in Syria this month that killed two Iranian generals.
As talks for a truce and hostage release dragged on, fears that Iran could soon launch an attack on Israel spurred France to recommend its citizens avoid travelling to the region. Poland’s foreign ministry advises against travel to Israel, Palestine and Lebanon, it said in updated travel guidance published on Friday.
Israeli troops pulled out of the devastated city of Khan Yunis last week after months of heavy fighting, but officials said the move was in preparation for and assault on Hamas militants in Rafah.
Authorities in the Hamasruled territory reported dozens of new airstrikes in Gaza’s central region.
Israel’s military said its aircraft had struck more than 60 militant targets in Gaza over the previous day.
33,634 dead in Gaza
The war began with Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack against Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 33,634 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s health ministry.
The latest bombardments in
Gaza came after Israel said it had strengthened air defences and paused leave for combat units, following a deadly April 1 air strike that destroyed Iran’s consulate building in Damascus.
Iran blamed its arch foe Israel, which has stepped up strikes against Iran-linked targets in Syria since the Gaza war began.
US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that Iran was “threatening to launch a significant attack” and sent the head of US Central Command, General Michael Kurilla, to Israel for urgent talks.
The White House said on Friday that the threat from Iran remained “real”.
After meeting Kurilla, defence minister Yoav Gallant said Israel and the United States were “shoulder to shoulder” in facing the threat from Iran, despite recent differences over the conduct of the war in Gaza.
“Our enemies think that they can pull apart Israel and the United States, but the opposite is true — they are bringing us together and strengthening our ties,” Gallant said. “We stand shoulder to shoulder.”
After calls with his Australian, British and German counterparts on Thursday, foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said: “Iran does not seek to expand the scope of the war.”
But he added that it felt it had no choice but to respond to the deadly attack on its diplomatic mission after the UN Security Council failed to take action.
Moscow and Berlin urged restraint.
The European Union on Friday imposed sanctions on the armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad for “widespread” sexual violence during the October 7 attacks.
The bloc said fighters from the two militant groups — already on the EU’s terrorism blacklist — “committed widespread sexual and gender-based violence in a systematic manner, using it as a weapon of war”.