Israel will choose the time and place to respond to this weekend’s Iranian drone and missile attack while working with the United States to build a global and regional alliance against Tehran, says war cabinet Minister Benny Gantz.
“Iran is a global and regional problem, and also a threat to Israel. Therefore the world should act against it militarily and impose sanctions on it in order to stop its aggression,” the former IDF chief of staff says on stage at a conference organized by the Israel Hayom daily newspaper.
“I discussed this with senior officials in the American administration in the last day, and Israel will work together with them to promote this,” he continues.
“In this context, promoting the normalization processes, which will create the strategic reversal in the region against the Iranian axis, will serve that purpose. Israel will act out of strategic wisdom, and will respond in the place, time and manner it chooses. And this is not the place to elaborate,” he says.
Turning to the issue of the war in Gaza, Gantz says that the return of the hostages “is not only moral duty of the first order, but a leading strategic objective in the war,” and promises to continue working to bring them home.
On the matter of ultra-Orthodox enlistment, he says that talks are ongoing and rejects the idea of a “political compromise” that would protect yeshiva students’ exemptions as harming Israeli security.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock says she will fly to Israel today to help deescalate the tense situation after Iran’s weekend attack and express Germany’s support for Israel.
She calls on all sides to prevent the conflict from spreading to other countries in the region and for new sanctions against Iran.
The chief IDF spokesman says that Iran will not get off “scot-free” after the Islamic Republic launched an unprecedented wave of missiles and drones at Israel over the weekend.
“We cannot stand still from this kind of aggression, Iran will not get [off] scot-free with this aggression,” IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari tells reporters at Julis military base while displaying the remains of an intercepted missile.
“We will respond in our time, in our place, in the way that we will choose,” he adds.
The Hezbollah terror group claims responsibility for launching explosive-laden drones at northern Israel earlier. Three people were lightly wounded in the attack.
In a statement, Hezbollah claims that it targeted an Iron Dome battery near Beit Hillel, a small farming community, and that members of its crew were killed and wounded.
Hezbollah has made similar claims in recent months, which have been dismissed by the IDF as empty boasts.
The IDF said it was investigating why sirens didn’t sound during the attack.
An Iranian official says his country will respond within “seconds” if Israel seeks to retaliate for its attack over the weekend.
Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani says Israel will face a “resolute and hard response” if it takes further action against Iran.
Bagheri Kani says unlike Iran’s response to the purported Israeli attack on a building next to the Iranian consulate in Damascus, “there will not be a 12- or 13-day gap between a Zionist regime move and Iran’s powerful response anymore. The Zionists must now reckon in seconds, not hours.”
Rocket warning sirens sound in northern Israel, close to the Lebanon border
Rocket warning sirens sound in northern Israel communities close to the Lebanon border.
The sirens can be heard in multiple locations including Idmit, Hanita and Shlomi.
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