Israel will ‘make its own decision’ on Iran after UK and Germany call for restraint – as it happened

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the visiting foreign ministers of Germany and Britain for their support on Wednesday but said Israel would reach its own decisions on its security.

“They have all sorts of suggestions and advice. I appreciate that. But I want to make it clear – we will make our own decisions, and the state of Israel will do everything necessary to defend itself,” Reuters reports he said, according to a statement released by his office.

Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi warned in Tehran on Wednesday morning that the tiniest strike by Israel om Iranian soil would bring a “massive and harsh” response. Raisi said the weekend’s attack was a limited one, and that if Iran had wanted to carry out a bigger attack, “nothing would remain from the Zionist regime.”

Earlier the UK foreign secretary David Cameron had said he hoped Israel would show restraint and be “smart but tough” after the unprecedented direct state-on-state attack by Iran on Israel which used over 300 weapons.

The statement from the Israeli prime minister also said that he had briefed Cameron and Annalena Baerbock on the scope of humanitarian aid entering Gaza, and Netanyahu said he rejected claims by international organizations that there was starvation in Gaza.

In March the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) stated that 1.1 million people in the Gaza Strip were experiencing catastrophic food insecurity and that famine was imminent.

In its latest update yesterday, the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, said “There has been no significant change in the volume of humanitarian supplies entering Gaza or improved access to the north,” adding that an average of 181 aid trucks enter each day, well below the target of 500.

“Israel is going above and beyond on the humanitarian situation,” Netanyahu’s statement said.

Source » theguardian.com