G7 CALLS FOR RESTRAINT
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed Iran will pay for Tuesday’s missile attack, and Washington said it would work with its longtime ally to ensure Iran faced “severe consequences”.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, speaking in Doha, said on Thursday that Tehran would be ready to respond.
“Any type of military attack, terrorist act or crossing our red lines will be met with a decisive response by our armed forces,” he said.
Israel, which has been fighting Hamas in the Palestinian territory of Gaza for almost a year, sent troops into southern Lebanon on Tuesday after two weeks of intense airstrikes in a worsening conflict that has drawn in Iran and risks involving the United States.
The Group of Seven nations, which includes the US, Britain and allies, on Thursday condemned Iran’s missile attack on Tuesday and reaffirmed their commitment to Israel’s security.
But the group also called for restraint, a ceasefire in Gaza and halt to hostilities in Lebanon.
“A dangerous cycle of attacks and retaliation risks fuelling uncontrollable escalation in the Middle East, which is in no one’s interest,” it said in a statement.
Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani also urged serious ceasefire efforts to stop what he called Israel’s aggression.
The chairman of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee urged the US president on Thursday to speed up weapons shipments to Israel, including 907kg bombs held up for months over human rights concerns.
One 2,000-pound bomb can rip through thick concrete and metal, creating a wide blast radius.
Representative Michael McCaul said in a letter sent to Biden and seen by Reuters that such large bombs were operationally necessary as Hamas and Hezbollah were using deeply buried subterranean bunkers and tunnels.
