The US is warning Iran to stay out of Israel’s conflict with Hamas as American weapons begin flowing to its Middle East ally.
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Israel calls up 300,000 reservists, US warns Iran to back off
The US is warning Iran to stay out of Israel’s conflict with Hamas as American weapons begin flowing to its Middle East ally after the weekend’s
terror attack, and as Israel called up an unprecedented 300,000 reservists for the conflict.
With the death toll climbing past 1500, including 900 Israelis, Hamas threatened to start killing Israeli hostages and broadcast the executions in response to any retaliatory air strikes that came without warning.
People flee their homes in Khan Younis, amid Israeli strikes in the southern Gaza Strip. Reuters
The warnings came as Israel’s military said it had regained control of the border, as it laid siege to Gaza and cut off electricity, fuel, food and water to the strip of land that is home to 2 million people. Preparations were well under way for a possible ground invasion.
“We have only started striking Hamas,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a nationally televised address.
“What we will do to our enemies in the coming days will reverberate with them for generations.”
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The conflict – and the threat it could spill into a broader regional conflict involving Iran and its proxy militias – meant the oil price held on to its biggest gains for six months. The S&P/ASX 200 rallied back above 7000 – its best one-day performance this month – amid dovish signs from the US Federal Reserve over interest rates.
The Albanese government is working on
contingency plans to rescue stranded Australians from Israel using both commercial and military aircraft, as many major airlines suspended flights to and from the main airport at Tel Aviv.
There are no confirmed reports of Australians being killed, injured or abducted in the turmoil, although Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said safety concerns remained, given the number of Australians who visited Israel.
Despite pressure, Foreign Minister Penny Wong ruled out cutting Australian aid to Palestine, saying humanitarian assistance would continue to be channelled via the United Nations and International Committee of the Red Cross. Australia has committed $32.2 million in foreign aid in 2023-24.
The European Union initially suspended aid but reversed course after some members felt it was a measure punishing all Palestinians.
A day after the US ordered a carrier strike group closer to the eastern Mediterranean to guard against escalation, America’s top general issued a blunt warning to Iran and its Lebanese-based proxy militia Hezbollah “not to get involved”.
“We want to send a pretty strong message. We do not want this to broaden and the idea is for Iran to get that message loud and clear,” Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Charles Brown Jr said.
The White House said Iran’s support for Hamas had made it “complicit” in the attack, but there was no intelligence evidence directly linking Tehran to the planning.
“Iran has long supported Hamas and other terrorist networks throughout the region with resources capabilities training,” National Security Committee spokesman John Kirby said.
“And so in that regard, clearly, Iran is complicit here, but in terms of specific evidence on this, these sorts of attacks, no, we don’t have anything.”
While Israeli forces claimed it had hit 500 targets in Gaza by airstrikes and appears poised to stage a ground invasion – the first since 2014 – the big question remains about the scale of a campaign and the response from Hamas and its supporters.
The Israeli military is building a base next to the Gaza Strip to accommodate tens of thousands of soldiers.
“Israel is going to respond very severely and aggressively and there will be more loss of life,” military spokesman Richard Hecht said. “We should all change the paradigm here. This is not tit-for-tat.”
Israelis relocated from border towns
Thousands of Israeli residents were relocated from border towns near Gaza, as Israeli officials said they had largely regained control of the south and restored full control of the border following Saturday’s shock attack by Hamas terrorists in the deadliest fighting for decades.
Israeli tanks and drones were deployed to guard breaches in the Gaza border fence to prevent new incursions.
More than 900 Israelis have been slaughtered and 2500 injured.
One of the deadliest scenes was the Be’eri kibbutz, where 100 people died out of 1000 residents, with claims terrorists set fire to homes and waited by windows to shoot people as they tried to climb out to safety.
Lieutenant-Colonel Hecht also claimed the bodies of 1500 militants had been found in Israel.
He said the infiltration by a small number of people into Israel’s north from Lebanon on Monday was by Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters, not Hezbollah. The area has largely been quiet since then apart from the firing of several mortars toward Israel, he added.
In Gaza, Palestinian officials said almost 700 people had been killed in airstrikes.
In response to Israel’s aerial attacks, the spokesman of Hamas’ armed wing, Abu Obeida, said on Monday night that the group would kill one Israeli civilian captive any time Israel targeted civilians in their homes in Gaza “without prior warning”.
“From this moment on, we announce that any targeting of innocent civilians without warning will be met, regretfully to say, by executing one of the hostages in our custody,” he said.
“Our enemy does not understand the values or ethics.”
Israel claims it has been warning Palestinians via social media to evacuate buildings slated for a military strike.
Hostage taking continues
Hamas and its partner Islamic Jihad claim they are holding more than 130 hostages, including Israeli Defence Force personnel, and abducted more people on Monday. The group is demanding the release of 4500 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails as an exchange,
Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said the country was committed to bringing the hostages home.
“We demand Hamas not to harm any of the hostages,” he said. “This war crime will not be forgiven.”
Israel defied warnings from United Nations chief António Guterres over the dire humanitarian consequences of its siege of Gaza, with reports its sole power station will run out of fuel within days.
The UN said more than 187,000 of Gaza’s 2.3 million people had been forced to flee their homes. UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, is sheltering more than 137,000 people in schools across the territory. Families have taken in some 41,000 others.
Aid to Palestine to remain
Senator Wong, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and NSW Premier Chris Minns slammed pro-Palestinian protesters who lit flares and hurled anti-Semitic abuse at Sydney’s Opera House on Monday night, which had been lit up with blue and white lights in solidarity with Israel and the Jewish community.
“We are a tolerant, multicultural nation. I understand that people have deep views about issues relating to the Middle East conflict, but here in Australia we have to deal with political discourse in a respectful way,” Mr Albanese said.
“I acknowledge Palestinian suffering has occurred over a long period of time as well [but] nothing justifies what we saw on the weekend. Nothing justifies the slaughter of innocent civilians trying to enjoy a music festival.”
But Australia Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni accused the Albanese government of failing to condemn Israeli provocations, such as the Gaza siege and labelling of its residents as “human animals”.
“Palestinian Australians and their supporters have felt horrified by the one-sided response by the Australian government in the last few days,” he said.
“Israel blatantly disregards international law with its apartheid policies against Palestinians and violent oppression. They must not be given carte blanche to think they can get away with a genocide.”