2024-08-13 23:20:02
Iran rejected a call Tuesday by three European countries urging it to refrain from any retaliatory attacks that would further escalate regional tensions. Iran calls it an “excessive request.”
The leaders of Britain, France and Germany in a joint statement Monday asked Iran and its allies to refrain from retaliation for the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month. Iran has blamed Israel.
The European leaders also endorsed the latest push by mediators from Qatar, Egypt and the United States to broker an agreement to end the Israel-Hamas war. Talks are expected to resume Thursday. And they called for the return of scores of hostages held by Hamas and the “unfettered” delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Mediators have spent months trying to get the sides to agree to a three-phase plan in which Hamas would release the remaining hostages captured in its Oct. 7 attack in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, and Israel would withdraw from Gaza.
After more than 10 months of fighting, the Palestinian death toll is nearing 40,000 in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry there.
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WASHINGTON — Qatar will seek to convince Hamas to participate in Thursday’s peace talks over the war in Gaza, a U.S. State Department official said.
Hamas has so far declined to agree to take part in ceasefire negotiations, which take place amid fears that tensions between Israel and Iran could escalate following Israel’s killing of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh.
“Our partners in Qatar have assured us that they will work to have Hamas represented,” U.S. State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said during a briefing with reporters on Tuesday.
Patel declined to respond to questions about specific demands made by either side but said American efforts are focused on preventing greater violence and ending humanitarian suffering in the region.
“We are working around the clock every day,” Patel said of peace talks. “Everyone in the region should understand that further attacks only perpetuate conflict and instability and insecurity for everyone.”
Patel said the U.S. continues to stand with Israel and will support its ally in the face of any Iranian retaliation for Haniyeh’s death.
“We certainly won’t hesitate to defend Israel as well as our personnel from not just attacks from Iran but from Iranian-backed proxies as well.”
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey on Tuesday denounced a visit to a Jerusalem holy site by Israeli groups, including a far-right minister, as a “provocation” that could further escalate tensions in the region.
A Turkish Foreign Ministry statement said the “provocative action” had shown that Israel has “no intention of reaching peace.”
The ministry once again called on the international community to take action to stop the Israeli government’s “brutality.”
On Tuesday, Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir joined hundreds of mostly religious and ultra-nationalist Jews in visiting the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and encouraged prayer there. The site is the third holiest site in Islam and the holiest for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount.
Under a longstanding, informal arrangement known as the status quo, Jews are allowed to visit the site but not pray there.
“The storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque by hundreds of radical Israelis, including ministers, under police protection is a provocation that violates the historical status of Jerusalem and will further escalate the tension in our region,” the Turkish ministry said.
When asked about the prayer, U.N. deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said the status quo at Jerusalem’s holy sites shouldn’t be disturbed, and “this sort of behavior is unhelpful, and it is unduly provocative.”
UNITED NATIONS – Iran’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations said Tuesday that Iran is not considering sending representatives to cease-fire talks.
“We have not engaged in the indirect cease-fire negotiations between Hamas and the regime, facilitated by Egypt, Qatar, and the U.S., and hold no intention for involvement in such negotiations,” the mission said.
MOSCOW —Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday met with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and told him Russia is deeply concerned about the suffering in the region’s crisis.
“Of course, we are watching the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Palestine with great pain and concern. For our part, we are doing everything to support the Palestinian people,” Putin said at the opening of the meeting. “We have sent about 700 tons of various types of cargo.”
Abbas in turn thanked Putin for Russia’s support and complained that “The U.N., due to pressure from the U.S., has failed in its mission to give one solution, to adopt one resolution that would implement, ensure the implementation of the rights of the Palestinian people.”
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s military said that they determined Khan Younis as the location from which the Palestinian militants fired rockets aimed at Tel Aviv.
Israel’s army last week had launched the last in a series of incursions into the southern Gaza city, triggering another exodus of Palestinians from the area as it resumed an air and ground offensive.
Earlier today, the army said its troops continue to operate in Khan Younis, where they “eliminated terrorists, including from Hamas’ rockets unit.”
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s military says Palestinian militants have fired two rockets from the Gaza Strip and one of them landed in the sea off central Israel. It says the other projectile did not cross into Israeli territory.
Hamas’ armed wing said it fired two rockets at Tel Aviv, located on the coast in central Israel.
Palestinian rocket fire has dramatically quieted during Israel’s 10-month offensive in Gaza, which was launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into Israel. The last rocket attack on Tel Aviv was on May 26.
Militants still launch sporadic rocket and mortar attacks near the border, but nearly all the projectiles are intercepted or fall in open spaces without causing casualties or damage.
BEIRUT — Lebanese authorities have evacuated prisoners from police stations in Beirut’s southern suburbs and southern Lebanon to other parts of the country out of concerns about possible war with Israel, judicial and security officials say.
The officials say about 220 prisoners were moved. It comes amid concerns that the ongoing exchange of cross-border fire between Israeli troops and members of the Lebanon-based militant Hezbollah group might expand after Israel killed a top Hezbollah official last month. Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate.
If all-out war breaks out, many fear that Beirut’s southern suburbs and south Lebanon, where Hezbollah has a wide presence, could face intense Israeli airstrikes. The officials say the evacuated prisoners are held on suspicion of committing various crimes such as murder and theft.
— Bassem Mroue
JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to ease concerns over a decision by one of the three major credit rating firms to downgrade Israel’s economic rating amid the 10-month war in Gaza. The downgrade can affect Israel’s borrowing rate and its ability to seek cash from international lenders.
Fitch Ratings in its advisory note downgraded Israel from “A+” to “A” late Monday. “In our view, the conflict in Gaza could last well into 2025 and there are risks of it broadening to other fronts,” it said. “In addition to human losses, it could result in significant additional military spending, destruction of infrastructure and more sustained damage to economic activity and investment, leading to a further deterioration of Israel’s credit metrics.”
“The lowering of the rating is a result of Israel having to cope with a multi-front war that was forced on it,” Netanyahu said Tuesday. “The rating will be raised again when we win.”
JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says a far-right minister who encouraged prayer at a flashpoint Jerusalem holy site “deviated” from arrangements governing it.
The rare acknowledgement of a breach in the so-called status quo appeared to be an effort to reduce tensions as Israel braces for possible retaliation from Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah over the targeted killing of two top militants last month.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is the third holiest site in Islam and the holiest for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount. It is at the emotional heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and perceived encroachments have often sparked violence across the region. Under a longstanding arrangement known as the status quo, Jews can visit the site but not pray there.
Jordan, which serves as custodian of the site and has long condemned Israel’s actions there, is expected to play a major role in defending Israel against any Iranian attack.
On Tuesday, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir joined hundreds of Jews in visiting the site as they commemorated the destruction of the temples. In a video released by his office, Ben-Gvir strolls with supporters and one yells out a Jewish prayer. Ben-Gvir says he has made “very large progress” in easing the rules against Jewish prayer there.
A statement by the prime minister’s office said “it is the government and the prime minister who determine policy on the Temple Mount.”
JERUSALEM — Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site Tuesday, in a pilgrimage seen by Muslims as provocative as regional tensions soar.
Tensions over the compound have fueled rounds of violence before. Ben-Gvir, an ultranationalist settler leader, last visited the compound in July, which the Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned as a “provocative intrusion” that endangered the fragile status quo regarding the Jerusalem compound.
Ben-Gvir visited the flashpoint site Tuesday morning as Jews marked Tisha B’Av, a day of mourning commemorating the destruction of the biblical Temples. Jews revere the site as the Temple Mount, believed to be the location of the First and Second Temples, and it is a holy site for Muslims as Haram al-Sharif or the Noble Sanctuary.
The visit elicited a rebuke from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said prayers there were a “deviation” from decades-old understandings at the site that prohibit Jewish worship there.
In video released by his office, Ben-Gvir was seen strolling through the compound singing, “The people of Israel live!” while accompanied by dozens of supporters. One supporter yelled a Jewish prayer, which is not permitted under the longstanding arrangement in place at the site meant to ease regional tensions. Ben-Gvir has said he is changing the policy and, despite previous assurances to the contrary by Netanyahu, he repeated the stance Tuesday, adding that “very large progress” had been made to allow Jewish prayer at the site. Netanyahu said there was no change to the policy.
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s president told Britain’s prime minister that Tehran considers retaliation against Israel over the July killing of Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh a right, and a way to discourage future aggression.
A Tuesday report by the official IRNA news agency said President Masoud Pezeshkian, in a late Monday phone conversation with Prime Minister Keir Starmer, said that a punitive response to an aggressor is “a right of nations and a solution for stopping crimes and aggression.”
Pezeshkian said that the West’s silence about “unprecedented inhumane crime” in Gaza and Israeli attacks elsewhere in the Middle East was “irresponsible” and encouraged Israel to put regional and global security at risk.
The report said the two leaders discussed ways for restoring peace and stability in the region and the world as well as improving bilateral relations, without elaborating.
According to a statement from his office, Starmer said he was deeply concerned by the situation in the region and called on all parties to de-escalate. During the 30-minute call with Pezeshkian, Starmer asked Iran not to attack Israel, adding that war was not in anyone’s interests.
Israel has not confirmed nor denied its role in the July killing of Haniyeh, but Israel earlier pledged to kill him and other Hamas leaders over the group’s Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza. The assassination has sparked fears of a wider regional conflict and of a direct confrontation between Israel and Iran if Tehran retaliates.
Iran does not recognize Israel and supports anti-Israeli militant groups including Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran rejected a call Tuesday by three European countries demanding it to refrain from any retaliatory attacks that would further escalate regional tensions.
French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer issued a joint statement Monday endorsing the latest push by mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States to broker an agreement to end the Israel-Hamas war. The European leaders also called for the return of scores of hostages held by Hamas and the “unfettered” delivery of humanitarian aid, and asked that Iran and its allies to refrain from retaliation that would further escalate regional tensions after the late-July killings of two senior officials in Beirut and Tehran.
“Such demands lack political logic, are entirely contrary to the principles and rules of international law, and represent an excessive request,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said.
The country’s foreign ministry said Iran is decisive about defending its rights and does not need any permission to retaliate over the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, state-run IRNA news agency reported.
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least 16 Palestinians, including four women and seven children, and orphaned another four children, Palestinian medical officials said Tuesday.
Ten people were killed in a strike late Monday on a house near the southern city of Khan Younis, where Israel ordered mass evacuations in recent days, saying it must act against Palestinian militants.
Nasser Hospital, where the bodies were brought, said another four children, including a 3-month-old infant, were wounded. The infant’s parents and their other five children were among those killed. The parents of the other three wounded children were also killed, according to the hospital’s list of casualties. An Associated Press journalist counted the bodies.
A separate strike near Deir al-Balah in central Gaza killed a woman and her twin babies, who were four days old, and their grandmother. Another strike in central Gaza killed a man and his nephew.
An Associated Press reporter counted the bodies at the nearby Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and spoke to the father of the twins, who had planned to register their birth on Tuesday.
Israel says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames their deaths on Hamas because its fighters operate in residential areas. The military rarely comments on individual strikes, which often kill women and children.
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This story has been corrected to say the wounded infant was 3 months old, not 5 months old.
