Military: Missing Israeli teen found dead in West Bank
JERUSALEM/DUBAI — Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said it launched dozens of drones and missiles at Israel on Saturday, an attack that may trigger a major escalation between the regional archenemies, with the U.S. pledging to back Israel.
Israel’s military said the drones, which Iraqi security sources said were seen flying over the country from Iran, would take hours to reach their targets.
Israeli Channel 12 said missiles Iran had launched would likely strike sooner but that some missiles and drones had been shot down over Syria or Jordan.
Iran has vowed retaliation for what it called an Israeli strike on its Damascus consulate on April 1 that killed seven Guards officers including two senior commanders and said its strike was a punishment for “Israeli crimes.” Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the consulate attack.
President Joe Biden, who on Friday warned Iran against attacking Israel after saying such a scenario appeared imminent, has pledged to stand with Israel against Iran, the White House said.
Biden returned to Washington on Saturday afternoon to consult with his national security and discuss events in the Middle East.
A retired Israeli general, Amos Yadlin, told the country’s Channel 12 news that the Iranian drones were equipped with 44 pounds of explosives each.
Israel’s military said sirens would sound in any threatened areas and that its defenses were poised to deal with them.
Israel and neighboring Jordan, which lies between Iraq and Israel, said they were closing their airspace on Saturday night.
Syria, an ally of Iran, said it was putting its ground-to-air defense systems around the capital and major bases on high alert, army sources there said.
The Gaza war between Israel and Hamas,
now in its seventh month, has driven up tensions in the region, spreading to fronts with Lebanon and Syria and drawing long-range fire at Israeli targets from as far away as Yemen and Iraq.
Those clashes now threaten to morph into a direct open conflict pitting Iran and its regional allies against Israel and its main supporter the United States.
Hamas rejects Israel’s cease-fire response
The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas has rejected an Israeli cease-fire proposal, saying on Saturday it had handed to mediators in Egypt and Qatar its response to the proposal it had received last Monday.
After more than six months of war with Israel in Gaza, the negotiations remain deadlocked, with Hamas sticking to its demands that any agreement must end the war.
“We ... reaffirm our adherence to our demands and the national demands of our people; with a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of the occupation army from the entire Gaza Strip, the return of the displaced to their areas and places of residence, intensification of the entry of relief and aid, and the start of reconstruction,” the Islamist faction said.
Israel wants to secure the return of hostages seized by Hamas in its Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war, but says it will not stop fighting until Hamas is destroyed as a military force. It also says it still plans to carry out an assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than a million civilians have taken refuge.
Hamas said on Saturday it was ready to conclude a prisoners-for-hostages swap deal with Israel that would see the release of 133 hostages still believed to be held in Gaza in return for hundreds of Palestinians jailed in Israel.
There was no official Israeli comment on Hamas’ response.
Iran seizes cargo ship in Strait of Hormuz
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards seized an Israeli-linked cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, days after Tehran said it could close the crucial shipping route and warned it would retaliate for an Israeli strike on its Syria consulate.
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported that a Guards helicopter had boarded and taken into Iranian waters the Portuguese flagged MSC Aries, saying it was linked to Israel.
MSC, which operates the Aries, confirmed Iran had seized the ship and said it was working “with the relevant authorities” for its safe return and the well-being of its 25 crew.
MSC leases the Aries from Gortal Shipping, an affiliate of Zodiac Maritime, Zodiac said in a statement, adding that MSC is responsible for all the vessel’s activities. Zodiac is partly owned by Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz accused Tehran of piracy.
On Tuesday, the naval head of the Revolutionary Guards, Alireza Tangsiri, said it could close the Strait of Hormuz, which lies between Iran and the United Arab Emirates, if deemed necessary.
Israeli military and police said the body of a missing Israeli teenager who was likely killed in a Palestinian attack was found on Saturday in the occupied West Bank, an incident that may indicate violence is spreading as the Gaza war enters its seventh month.
The 14-year-old went missing on Friday, authorities said, and they described his killing as “a terrorist attack.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the assailants would be found and he called on Israelis not to get in the way of security forces.
As Israeli forces searched for the teen overnight on Friday, Jewish settlers in the area entered a nearby Palestinian village and set houses and cars ablaze. One person was killed in that rampage, Palestinian medics said.
Settlers blocked entrances to two more towns in the area on Saturday and threw stones at passing vehicles, Palestinian official news agency Wafa said.