Date: 2025-08-21 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00026558
MIDDLE EAST
NEW YORK TIMES (NYT) REPORTING
Iran Fires Over 200 Drones and Missiles at Israel in Retaliatory Strike
Israel said that with assistance from its allies, most were intercepted.
NEW YORK TIMES (NYT) REPORTING
Iran Fires Over 200 Drones and Missiles at Israel in Retaliatory Strike
Israel said that with assistance from its allies, most were intercepted.
Peter Burgess COMMENTARY
I am not at all comfortable with the policy choices that Israel has made in the aftermath of the horrendous Hamas attack on October 7th 2023.
I know something about history ... Jewish history and the history of Israel. There are a lot of lessons that should be learned from this history.
But, as in most things, there is complexity. Simple binary conclusions tend to misrepresent the reality ... and this is now being in clear display by the actions of Israeli leadership since the October 7th attack by Hamas.
In the modern world it should be possible to have 'win-win' outcomes from most decisions that have to be made. In the case of Israel since October 7th 2023 the political leadership seems to have achieved an impressive ... and depressing ... massive 'lose-lose' outcome and potentially a lot more 'lose-lose' to come.
There is no 'love lost' between Israel and Iran, and it has been likely since October 7th that there would be some sort of escallation involving Iran and Israel. The massive drone attack that is decribed below seems to be a message from Iran that Israel needs to pay attention to Iran's interests in the region.
One of my takeaways from the Iranian attack is that Israel is a lot more alert to its core security needs now than it was last October 7th when it seems it was 'asleep at the switch'. The performance of the 'Iron Dome
Peter Burgess
Live Updates: April 13, 2024, 9:02 p.m.
Iran Fires Over 200 Drones and Missiles at Israel in Retaliatory Strike
Israel said that with assistance from its allies, most were intercepted.
Iran Launches Aerial Attack on Israel
Air-raid sirens sounded across Israel and the West Bank as the night sky lit up with incoming missiles and interceptions.CreditCredit...Amir Cohen/Reuters
Updated April 13, 2024, 9:02 p.m. ET17 minutes ago
Aaron Boxerman, Ronen Bergman, Farnaz Fassihi and Eric Schmitt
Here are the latest developments.
Iran mounted an immense aerial attack on Israel on Saturday night, launching more than 200 drones and missiles in retaliation for a deadly Israeli airstrike two weeks ago, but a spokesman for the Israeli military said most of the airborne threats had been intercepted, with some help from allies, including the United States.
The Iranian strikes caused minor damage to one Israeli military base, the spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said at a news conference early Sunday morning. He provided no details. “Only one little girl has been hurt,” he added.
The large-scale attack aimed at targets inside Israel and the territory it controls opened a volatile new chapter in the long-running shadow war between Iran and Israel, marking a significant escalation in hostilities between the two regional foes.
Just before 2 a.m. local time on Sunday, air-raid sirens sounded across vast swaths of southern Israel, the West Bank and Golan Heights. The government also sent out warnings about possible missiles arriving in the Negev Desert, where there are several military bases.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps said in a statement broadcast on state television that it had launched “dozens of drones and missiles” toward Israel from Iran “in reaction to the Zionist regime’s crimes.”
Later, it issued a second statement on state media claiming that it had hit military targets in Israel, warning the United States against getting involved and threatening more strikes if Iran or its interests were hit.
Senior Iranian officials and military commanders had pledged to retaliate since the Israeli airstrike in Damascus on April 1. Seven Iranian officers, including three top commanders, were killed in the strike, inciting Iranian vows to avenge the deaths.
Iran’s action on Saturday came after a week of diplomacy and conflicting reports about how far Tehran would go in response to the Damascus attack, and whether it would risk starting an outright war with Israel.
One Defense Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters, said U.S. forces had helped to shoot down Iranian drones, but it remained unclear what the American role had been.
Here’s what else to know:
- Magen David Adom, an Israeli emergency response service, said the one girl known to have been injured in the attack was a 10-year-old from an Arab Bedouin community in southern Israel. She was taken to the hospital after being hit in the head by shrapnel, the group said in a statement. Roughly 20 others were treated for anxiety or injuries suffered while rushing to shelter, the group added.
- The United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Sunday afternoon to discuss Iran’s attacks on Israel, according to Malta’s mission to the U.N., which holds the rotating presidency. Israel’s U.N. ambassador, Gilad Erdan, requested the emergency meeting Saturday evening in a letter. “The attack is a severe and dangerous escalation,” his letter said.
- President Biden cut short a weekend at his vacation home in Delaware to return to the White House and huddle with his national security team. “I just met with my national security team for an update on Iran’s attacks against Israel,” Mr. Biden said on social media. “Our commitment to Israel’s security against threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad.”
- Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, spoke by phone this evening with the U.S. secretary of defense, Lloyd J. Austin III, according to statements from both men. According to Mr. Austin’s statement, he told Gallant that “Israel could count on full U.S. support to defend Israel against any attacks by Iran and its regional proxies.”
- The airspaces of Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon are all now closed, according to Flightradar24, a real-time aircraft flight tracking tool.
Show more Farnaz Fassihi April 13, 2024, 8:59 p.m. ET19 minutes ago 19 minutes ago Farnaz Fassihi
The United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Sunday afternoon to discuss Iran’s attacks on Israel, according to Malta’s mission to the U.N., which holds the rotating presidency of the Council. Israel’s U.N. ambassador, Gilad Erdan, requested the emergency meeting Saturday evening in a letter.
“The attack is a severe and dangerous escalation,” his letter said.
Farnaz Fassihi April 13, 2024, 8:52 p.m. ET27 minutes ago 27 minutes ago Farnaz Fassihi
Iranians have flocked to gas stations in panic in the middle of the night forming miles long lines in panic in Tehran and other big cities, according to videos posted on social media. Iran’s ministry of oil reassured the public that there is no shortage of gasoline and no need to fill up their tanks.
“There is enough gasoline, the gas stations and storage tanks are full and there is no reason for people to worry about finding fuel,” said Jafar Salari Nasab, an oil ministry official, to state media.
Patrick Kingsley April 13, 2024, 8:37 p.m. ET41 minutes ago 41 minutes ago Patrick KingsleyJerusalem bureau chief
Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, spoke by phone this evening with the U.S. secretary of defense, Lloyd J. Austin III, according to statements from both men.
According to Austin’s statement, he told Gallant that “Israel could count on full U.S. support to defend Israel against any attacks by Iran and its regional proxies.”
Gallant’s statement said that he briefed Austin “about Israel’s defensive operations in the face of Iran’s attack, and emphasized that the defense establishment is prepared for any further attempts to attack the State of Israel.”
Christiaan Triebert April 13, 2024, 8:29 p.m. ET50 minutes ago 50 minutes ago Christiaan Triebert
A video shows what appear to be Israeli air defense interceptors in the skies above the Old City of Jerusalem, the site of several Jewish and Muslim holy sites. Air raid sirens were sounding throughout Israel in response to drones and missiles launched by Iran.
Video Replay CreditCredit...Osman Çelebi via X Alissa J. Rubin April 13, 2024, 8:26 p.m. ET52 minutes ago 52 minutes ago Alissa J. Rubin
What are the Golan Heights?
A road cuts through a grassy area. The is a white lookout post along the road and mountains in the background.
A U.N. peacekeeping post along the Israel-Syria border in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.Credit...Ayal Margolin/Reuters
The Golan Heights, a mostly rocky plateau on Israel’s northeast border with Syria and Lebanon, has routinely seen conflict since Israel seized it during the 1967 six-day war, occupied it and then annexed much of it in 1981.
The annexed portion, encompassing nearly 500 square miles, was and remains a militarily strategic perch for Israeli forces, giving them a vantage point and proximity to two of Jerusalem’s chief adversaries: Syria and Lebanon, and especially the armed group Hezbollah, which has forces along the nearby southern and southeastern Lebanese border.
Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights has never been recognized internationally by the United Nations, which condemned it at the time. However, when President Donald Trump was in power, he said the United States should recognize the land as Israel’s, but the move was condemned internationally and carried primarily symbolic weight.
Both Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, and armed groups in Syria that are similarly Iranian backed have used the areas along the Lebanese and Syrian borders with the Golan Heights to fire rockets and missiles at Israel.
Iranian officials have signaled that they are looking for a way to deter Israel from another strike like the April 1 bombing in Damascus that killed seven officers of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and precipitated Iran’s efforts to avenge those deaths by striking Israel.
However, Iranian leaders in private and more obliquely in public have signaled that they do not want to escalate the war, according to Iranian advisers in Tehran and senior security officials in Iraq who are closely allied with Tehran.
That is one reason why Iran might choose to target the Golan Heights. While Israel considers it to be within its borders, internationally it is viewed as Syrian land occupied by Israel. That allows Iran to claim that they are not striking Israel directly — something Israeli leaders have warned them would provoke damaging strikes inside Iran.
A strike on the Golan Heights could also seen by Tehran as a commensurate way to avenge Israel’s strike in Damascus in the same place — or at least the same country.
Israel had evacuated Israelis from the Golan Heights area closest to the Lebanese border soon after the war in Gaza began because of cross-border attacks and counterattacks involving Hezbollah and the Israeli military.
The largely desert area now has several Israeli military bases and elsewhere it is relatively thinly populated with more people in the southern areas, which are better for farming. Once Israel occupied it, the Arab farmers mostly fled and Israel has created a number of settlements there.
Of the more than 50,000 people who live there, barely half are Syrian Druze; almost all the rest are Israeli Jews, who have settled in the area with the government’s support, much as they have in the West Bank.
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Patrick Kingsley April 13, 2024, 8:19 p.m. ET1 hour ago 1 hour ago Patrick KingsleyJerusalem bureau chief
The Iranian strikes caused minor damage to an Israeli military base, Israel’s chief military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said in a press briefing. Admiral Hagari did not name the base, but added that Iran had fired over 200 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, the vast majority of which had been intercepted by Israel with “some assistance” from its allies. “Only one little girl has been hurt,” he added, without giving further information.
Admiral Hagari said that Israel was continuing to intercept drones and missiles, and that some of those interceptions had occurred outside of Israel’s airspace.
There have been no air-raid warnings inside Israel for more than an hour.
Patrick Kingsley April 13, 2024, 8:25 p.m. ET53 minutes ago 53 minutes ago Patrick KingsleyJerusalem bureau chief
Magen David Adom, an Israeli emergency response service, said the injured girl was a 10-year-old from an Arab Bedouin community in southern Israel. She was taken to the hospital after being hit in the head by shrapnel, the group said in a statement. Roughly 20 others were treated for anxiety or injuries suffered while rushing to shelter, the group added.
Michael Gold April 13, 2024, 8:07 p.m. ET1 hour ago 1 hour ago Michael Gold
Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, at a rally in Pennsylvania Saturday evening expressed support to Israel, then effectively blamed Biden for the Iran attack. “God bless the people of Israel, they’re under attack right now,” he said. “That’s because we show great weakness.'
Farnaz Fassihi April 13, 2024, 8:05 p.m. ET1 hour ago 1 hour ago Farnaz Fassihi
Antonio Guterres, the secretary general of the United Nations, called for an immediate de-escalation in the Middle East and said in a statement, “I strongly condemn the serious escalation represented by the large-scale attack launched on Israel by the Islamic Republic of Iran this evening.”
He said the region was at risk of plunging into a deeper and wider war on multiple fronts. “I have repeatedly stressed that neither the region nor the world can afford another war.”
Farnaz Fassihi April 13, 2024, 8:00 p.m. ET1 hour ago 1 hour ago Farnaz Fassihi
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps issued a second statement warning the United States against supporting Israel. It said, “We warn the United States terrorist government that any support or participation in attacking Iran’s interests will have a fierce response from Iran’s Armed Forces.”
Adam Rasgon April 13, 2024, 7:55 p.m. ET1 hour ago 1 hour ago Adam Rasgon
Several aircraft or missiles appear to have been intercepted in the skies above Jordan, an Arab state that lies between Iran and Israel, according to a video sent to The New York Times by Ahmed Al Hourani, a resident of Amman, the Jordanian capital. The video shows several flashes in the skies around Amman at around 1:50 a.m., roughly the time that a barrage of interceptions were also heard above Israel.
Video
Michael D. Shear April 13, 2024, 7:46 p.m. ET2 hours ago 2 hours ago Michael D. Shear
President Biden posted on social media: “I just met with my national security team for an update on Iran’s attacks against Israel. Our commitment to Israel’s security against threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad.”
Aaron Boxerman April 13, 2024, 7:44 p.m. ET2 hours ago 2 hours ago Aaron BoxermanReporting from Jerusalem
Zaki Heller, a spokesman for Magen David Adom, said by phone that medics were now treating a 10-year-old girl in serious condition in the Negev Desert. She was believed to have been been wounded by shrapnel from an interceptor, Heller said, saying there were no other reports of serious injuries.
Gaya Gupta April 13, 2024, 7:33 p.m. ET2 hours ago 2 hours ago Gaya Gupta
Britain’s defense secretary, Grant Shapps, said in a statement that additional British jets and air refueling tankers have been deployed to bolster its existing operations in Iraq and Syria, and its jets will 'intercept' airborne attacks within range of its missions there.
Eric Schmitt April 13, 2024, 7:21 p.m. ET2 hours ago 2 hours ago Eric Schmitt
“In accordance with our ironclad commitment to Israel’s security, U.S. forces in the region continue to shoot down Iranian-launched drones targeting Israel. Our forces remain postured to provide additional defensive support and to protect U.S. forces operating in the region,” said a Defense Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters.
Aaron Boxerman April 13, 2024, 7:08 p.m. ET2 hours ago 2 hours ago Aaron BoxermanReporting from Jerusalem
Israel’s emergency service, Magen David Adom, said there were no immediate reports of casualties following the Iranian attack, although a few Israelis were injured while rushing to fortified bomb shelters.
Patrick Kingsley April 13, 2024, 7:07 p.m. ET2 hours ago 2 hours ago Patrick KingsleyJerusalem bureau chief
Several booms were heard in the skies above Jerusalem in recent minutes, indicating that Israel’s air defense system has been intercepting incoming aircraft or missiles.
Eric Schmitt April 13, 2024, 6:54 p.m. ET2 hours ago 2 hours ago Eric Schmitt
British fighter jets and aerial refueling planes based in Cyprus have taken over much of the counterterrorism mission in the skies over Iraq and northeastern Syria, freeing up American warplanes normally operating there to help defend Israel against the Iranian drone attack on Saturday, a British official said.
Patrick Kingsley April 13, 2024, 6:51 p.m. ET2 hours ago 2 hours ago Patrick KingsleyJerusalem bureau chief
Israel’s air raid alert system has sounded warnings across vast swaths of southern Israel and the Israeli-occupied territory of the West Bank and the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in 1967 and later annexed. The alarms indicated either missiles or enemy aircraft overhead.
Video CreditCredit...Reuters
Patrick Kingsley April 13, 2024, 6:46 p.m. ET3 hours ago 3 hours ago Patrick KingsleyJerusalem bureau chief
Israel’s air raid alert system has issued dozens of warnings about possible incoming missiles or aircraft in the Negev Desert in southern Israel. There are several military bases in the area.
Video CreditCredit...AFPTV
Aaron Boxerman April 13, 2024, 6:48 p.m. ET3 hours ago 3 hours ago Aaron BoxermanReporting from Jerusalem
Loud booms and air raid sirens resound in Jerusalem.
Farnaz Fassihi April 13, 2024, 6:42 p.m. ET3 hours ago 3 hours ago Farnaz Fassihi
Iran’s mission to the United Nations said in a statement on social media that Iran’s attack on Israel was in line with the U.N. charter of legitimate self-defense and suggested that the standoff with Israel could end with the tit-for-tat responses. “Iran’s military action was in response to the Zionist regime’s aggression against our diplomatic premise in Damascus. The matter can be deemed concluded. However, should the Israeli regime make another mistake, Iran’s response will be considerably more severe.”
Aurelien Breeden April 13, 2024, 6:28 p.m. ET3 hours ago 3 hours ago Aurelien Breeden
France on Saturday condemned “in the strongest possible terms” the Iranian strike on Israel. “By taking such an unprecedented action, Iran has crossed a new threshold in its destabilizing actions, and runs the risk of military escalation,” Stéphane Séjourné, France’s foreign minister, said on X.
Farnaz Fassihi April 13, 2024, 6:14 p.m. ET3 hours ago 3 hours ago Farnaz Fassihi
Iran’s defense minister, Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, told state television that any country that allows its airspace to be used for attacks on Iran will be a target. “Any country that allows its airspace or soil to be used for Israel to attack Iran will receive a firm response from us.”
Image Credit...Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA, via Shutterstock
Euan Ward April 13, 2024, 6:00 p.m. ET3 hours ago 3 hours ago Euan Ward
Hezbollah announced in a statement just after midnight that it had fired dozens of rockets at an Israeli barracks in the Golan Heights. It was not immediately clear if the bombardment was connected to the Iranian attack. Lebanon’s state news agency earlier reported intense Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon.
Euan Ward April 13, 2024, 5:57 p.m. ET3 hours ago 3 hours ago Euan Ward
The airspaces of Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon are all now closed, according to Flightradar24, a real-time aircraft flight tracking tool.
Patrick Kingsley April 13, 2024, 5:53 p.m. ET3 hours ago 3 hours ago Patrick KingsleyJerusalem bureau chief
The Israeli military will hold a situational assessment at around 6 a.m. local time Sunday (11 p.m. Eastern time Saturday) to decide how to respond to the Iranian attack, according to an Israeli military official who briefed international journalists Saturday evening.
Tens of Israeli planes are flying across Israeli airspace, ready to shoot down Iranian aircraft, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to comply with military protocol.
He added that Israel may try to shoot down incoming aircraft before they reach Israeli airspace and said that it is “absolutely possible” that Jordan may fire on any Iranian aircraft that enter its skies.
Ronen Bergman April 13, 2024, 5:43 p.m. ET4 hours ago 4 hours ago Ronen Bergman
Israeli intelligence has detected the launch of dozens of drones and cruise missiles from Iran and Iraq, according to two Israeli officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss military intelligence. The areas of impact are expected to be the Golan Heights and an Israeli air force base in the Negev Desert, the officials said.
Cassandra Vinograd April 13, 2024, 5:26 p.m. ET4 hours ago 4 hours ago Cassandra VinogradReporting from Jerusalem
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel is currently meeting with his war cabinet, according to a statement from his office.
Farnaz Fassihi April 13, 2024, 5:25 p.m. ET4 hours ago 4 hours ago Farnaz Fassihi
Ali Vaez, the Iran director of the International Crisis Group said in an interview, “Iran and Israel are taking the region into uncharted waters. It is difficult to overstate how perilous this moment is, and how disastrous its consequences could prove.”
Michael D. Shear April 13, 2024, 5:12 p.m. ET4 hours ago 4 hours ago Michael D. Shear
President Biden arrived back at the White House at 5:02 p.m. Eastern time and walked quickly into the Oval Office. Officials said he would meet with his National Security Council soon.
Image Credit...Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times Farnaz Fassihi April 13, 2024, 5:10 p.m. ET4 hours ago 4 hours ago Farnaz Fassihi
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said in their statement that the attack on Israel was ordered by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and was under the guidance of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the senior military body that coordinates Iran’s armed forces. The statement said that details of the operation will soon be shared with the public.
Aaron Boxerman April 13, 2024, 5:05 p.m. ET4 hours ago 4 hours ago Aaron BoxermanReporting from Jerusalem
Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military spokesman, calls the Iranian attack “a severe and dangerous escalation.”
“Our defensive and offensive capabilities are at the highest level of readiness ahead of this large-scale attack from Iran,” Hagari said.
Farnaz Fassihi April 13, 2024, 4:53 p.m. ET4 hours ago 4 hours ago Farnaz Fassihi
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said in a statement broadcast on state television that it had launched missile and drone attacks on Israel from Iran. “The aerospace unit of the Revolutionary Guards has attacked targets in Israel with dozens of drones and missiles in reaction to the Zionist regime’s crimes, including the attack on the consulate section of Iran’s embassy in Damascus and martyring our commanders and military advisers in Syria.”
Farnaz Fassihi April 13, 2024, 4:44 p.m. ET5 hours ago 5 hours ago Farnaz Fassihi
Iranian media affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, Tasnim, a semiofficial news agency, reported that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps had launched attacks on Israel 'from all directions.' It said dozens of drones from Iran 'were launched toward targets in occupied territories.'
Aaron Boxerman April 13, 2024, 4:39 p.m. ET5 hours ago 5 hours ago Aaron BoxermanReporting from Jerusalem
Israel plans to close its airspace to international and domestic air traffic beginning at 12:30 a.m. local time on Sunday, the Israel Airports Authority said in a statement, as the country awaits the arrival of Iranian drones fired at its territory.
Michael D. Shear April 13, 2024, 4:34 p.m. ET5 hours ago 5 hours ago Michael D. Shear
The spokeswoman for the National Security Council at the White House confirmed that Iran had launched a strike toward Israel and vowed to help Israel defend itself: “Iran has begun an airborne attack against Israel. President Biden is being regularly updated on the situation by his national security team and will meet with them this afternoon at the White House. His team is in constant communication with Israeli officials as well as other partners and allies.'
Michael D. Shear April 13, 2024, 4:35 p.m. ET5 hours ago 5 hours ago Michael D. Shear 'This attack is likely to unfold over a number of hours,' the spokeswoman, Adrienne Watson, said. 'President Biden has been clear: our support for Israel’s security is ironclad. The United States will stand with the people of Israel and support their defense against these threats from Iran.'
Aaron Boxerman April 13, 2024, 4:31 p.m. ET5 hours ago 5 hours ago Aaron BoxermanReporting from Jerusalem
As Israel awaits the arrival of Iranian drones, the Israeli war cabinet began meeting tonight around 11 p.m. local time before the expanded security cabinet meets at 12 a.m., said an Israeli official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door deliberations.
Julian E. Barnes April 13, 2024, 4:28 p.m. ET5 hours ago 5 hours ago Julian E. Barnes
Current and former American officials said it is likely that Iran will try to synchronize the drone attack with faster moving missiles, which would be launched later. The slow moving drones, the former official said, could be used to distract Israeli defenses.
Farnaz Fassihi April 13, 2024, 4:20 p.m. ET5 hours ago 5 hours ago Farnaz Fassihi
Iranians inside the country anxiously followed the news that their country has launched attacks on Israel, fearing a retaliation strike that could lead to war. Iran’s currency had been plunging daily in reaction to even possibility of attacks and many Iranians worried that the impact of the strikes on the economy and inflation would be immediate.
Ronen Bergman April 13, 2024, 4:19 p.m. ET5 hours ago 5 hours ago Ronen Bergman
Israel has evacuated certain military bases and launched aircraft and prepared air defenses to intercept what it believes are drones launched from western Iran and western Iraq, according to three senior Israeli defense officials.
Aaron Boxerman April 13, 2024, 4:18 p.m. ET5 hours ago 5 hours ago Aaron BoxermanReporting from Jerusalem
Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military spokesman, told reporters in a televised briefing that Iran “fired drones from its territory towards the territory of the state of Israel.” He said Israeli forces were following the aerial threat, which would take a few hours to arrive.
April 13, 2024, 2:14 p.m. ETApril 13, 2024 April 13, 2024 Michael D. Shear, Aaron Boxerman and Eric Schmitt
Biden returns to White House as Israel braces for Iranian aerial strikes. Image
Military personnel saluting while standing next to a helicopter. President Biden walks up stairs into the helicopter. President Biden returned from his vacation home in Rehoboth, Del., to the White House on Saturday evening to consult with his national security team about events in the Middle East.Credit...Yuri Gripas for The New York Times
The spokeswoman for the National Security Council at the White House confirmed Saturday evening that Iran had launched what she called “an airborne attack” against Israel and vowed that the United States would help Israel defend itself.
“President Biden is being regularly updated on the situation by his national security team and will meet with them this afternoon at the White House,” Adrienne Watson, the spokeswoman, said in a statement.
“This attack is likely to unfold over a number of hours,” she added. “President Biden has been clear: Our support for Israel’s security is ironclad. The United States will stand with the people of Israel and support their defense against these threats from Iran.”
The statement came as Mr. Biden headed back to the White House Saturday afternoon, cutting short a weekend trip to his vacation home in Rehoboth, Del.
Officials said the president would convene a meeting of his top national security aides in the Situation Room at the White House amid reports from the Middle East that Iran had deployed dozens of drones headed toward Israel.
Earlier in the day, Iranian forces had seized a container ship with links to Israel in the Persian Gulf, as leaders in the Middle East and beyond watched for a sign that Iran had begun an anticipated attack on Israel in retaliation for Israel’s airstrike in Damascus on April 1 that killed several Iranian military officers.
In Washington, Ms. Watson called on Iran to release the vessel and its crew immediately.
“Seizing a civilian vessel without provocation is a blatant violation of international law, and an act of piracy by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization,” she said in an earlier statement. “It must be condemned unequivocally, and we will work with our partners to hold Iran to account for its actions.”
At the same time, the U.S. secretary of defense, Lloyd J. Austin III, spoke with Israel’s minister of defense, Yoav Gallant, to discuss urgent regional threats and reiterated unwavering U.S. support for Israel’s defense, the Pentagon’s spokesman, Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, said.
Mr. Austin made clear that Israel could count on full U.S. support to defend itself against any attacks by Iran and its regional proxies.
“In recent days we have strengthened our defensive and offensive array and we are determined to take any measures required to defend the citizens of the State of Israel,” Mr. Gallant said in a statement.
In Israel, there were signs the country was girding for the expected Iranian assault; the Israeli government barred educational activities, including schools and the youth-movement hiking trips patronized by Israeli teenagers during the Passover holiday. Gatherings were limited to fewer than 1,000 people in most of the country for at least the next two days, the Israeli military’s Home Front Command announced.
Show more Hiba Yazbek Abu Bakr Bashir April 13, 2024, 11:18 a.m. ETApril 13, 2024 April 13, 2024 Hiba Yazbek and Abu Bakr Bashir
The Israeli military shifts its focus to the central Gaza Strip. Image
A woman strapped onto a yellow stretcher carried by two men with a group of onlookers in the background. A Palestinian woman injured in an Israeli bombardment of Nuseirat in central Gaza is brought into a hospital in Deir al-Balah on Saturday.Credit...Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Less than a week after withdrawing ground troops from southern Gaza, the Israeli military has shifted its focus to the central Gaza Strip, where its forces were operating for the third day on Saturday and residents and Palestinian media reported heavy bombardments and intense fighting.
The Israeli military announced on Thursday that it had begun a “precise operation” in the central Gaza Strip, saying it had carried out airstrikes ahead of its ground troops raiding the area. It added that the Israeli navy had conducted several strikes along the coastline to assist the ground troops.
Residents and Palestinian media said that the Israeli attack seemed to center on the Nuseirat refugee camp in Deir al-Balah, a city in the central Gaza Strip near a narrow Israeli-controlled corridor that splits northern Gaza, including Gaza City, from the rest of the territory.
Though Nuseirat began as a refugee camp for displaced Palestinians in the 1940s, it has been built up over the decades into an urban community.
Wafa, the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency, reported intense Israeli air raids on Nuseirat for a third consecutive day on Saturday. The Israeli military said in a statement that its troops were continuing their operation in central Gaza and that they had destroyed Hamas “infrastructure” in the area over the last day.
Khalil Farid, 57, who lives in the Nuseirat refugee camp, said in a text-message exchange on Friday that bombing and shelling had not stopped since the Israeli attack began Thursday afternoon. “The army gave no warning of this operation,” he said, adding that “no leaflets were dropped, and no one was told where to go or what to do.”
Mr. Farid said that the fighting appeared to be mostly in the northern part of the New Camp, one of the neighborhoods of Nuseirat where he is staying with nine other family members at his brother’s apartment. “We are all sitting in the living room praying and waiting for our fate,” he said.
Mr. Farid said that after fleeing to the city of Rafah in the south, he and his family had returned to central Gaza because it seemed that the situation in Rafah was not much safer. “Where will we and the others go? There are too many people here,” he said.
The United Nations office for humanitarian affairs said on Friday that three Palestinians were reportedly killed and others were injured when a U.N. school housing displaced people in Nuseirat camp was hit.
The Palestinian civil defense in Gaza said that its rescue crews had received “dozens of distress calls” after an Israeli strike on the school killed and wounded several people, adding that it was unable to evacuate the casualties because it was too dangerous to enter the area.
TRT, the national public broadcaster of Turkey, said on Friday that a cameraman and correspondent were wounded when a group of journalists reporting from Nuseirat were hit by Israeli tank fire. CNN also said that a freelance reporter working for the network was lightly injured in the same attack.
Hamas said in a statement on Friday that the Nuseirat camp, which was “crowded with displaced people from various regions of the strip,” was under “a barbaric attack” that resulted “in dozens of martyrs and wounded.”
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Christopher F. Schuetze April 13, 2024, 10:34 a.m. ETApril 13, 2024 April 13, 2024 Christopher F. Schuetze
Iran seizes a commercial ship linked to Israel.
Iranian forces seized a container ship with links to Israel in the Persian Gulf on Saturday, as leaders in the Middle East and beyond watched for a retaliatory strike by Iran against Israel.
MSC, a major shipping company, said on Saturday that the MSC Aries, which is registered in Portugal, had been boarded by “Iranian authorities” via helicopter as it passed the Strait of Hormuz.
A video shared by Iranian state media showed a military helicopter hovering above what appeared to be the stern of the ship, with at least two soldiers descending a rope onto the deck.
The soldiers were part of the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, according to IRNA, the state news agency.
A spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council, Adrienne Watson, called on Iran to release the vessel and its crew immediately.
“Seizing a civilian vessel without provocation is a blatant violation of international law, and an act of piracy by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization,” she said in a statement. “It must be condemned unequivocally, and we will work with our partners to hold Iran to account for its actions.”
Though it is operated by MSC, the 1,200-foot cargo vessel belongs to an affiliate of Zodiac Maritime, which is part of the Zodiac Group, owned by the Israel-born billionaire Eyal Ofer, making it a possible target for Iranian retaliation. Tehran has vowed a retaliatory strike after blaming Israel for an attack on an Iranian embassy building in Syria that killed 12 people, among them top military generals.
Israel Katz, Israel’s foreign affairs minister, confirmed the seizure on social media and said Iran’s leadership was “a criminal regime that supports Hamas’ crimes and is now conducting a pirate operation in violation of international law.”
Six months after the Hamas attack on Israel that started the war in Gaza, the seizure comes amid fears of a wider conflict involving Iran directly. Iran is a backer of Hamas, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi rebels in Yemen, but has so far stayed clear of direct involvement. On Friday, President Biden said that he expected Iran to launch a retaliatory attack “sooner than later,” and reiterated that the United States remained committed to the defense of Israel.
It was not immediately clear if the seizure of the ship was part of Iran’s promised response to the attack in Syria, but it was not the first time Iran had directly seized a commercial vessel. In January, Iran’s navy seized a tanker loaded with oil off the coast of Oman. In that seizure, soldiers also descended from a hovering helicopter.
Before the war in Gaza, the United States said that Iran had “harassed, attacked or interfered” with more than a dozen internationally flagged merchant ships in recent years.
For their part, the Houthis have disrupted a significant part of the world’s shipping by attacking dozens of vessels heading to or from the Suez Canal.
The MSC Aries had 25 crew members on board, according to its operator.
Show more Aaron Boxerman April 13, 2024, 7:58 a.m. ETApril 13, 2024 April 13, 2024 Aaron BoxermanReporting from Jerusalem
The death of a 14-year-old further inflames tensions in the West Bank. Image
A man stands amid burned metal supports and charred ground.
A Palestinian man inspecting damage on Saturday after Israeli settlers attacked the village of Al Mughayir, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.Credit...Mohamad Torokman/Reuters
An Israeli teenager whose disappearance had led to riots by Israeli settlers in the West Bank was found dead on Saturday, the Israeli authorities said, threatening to further inflame tensions in the Israeli-occupied territory.
Dozens of Israelis and Palestinians were wounded during clashes at several locations across the West Bank later on Saturday, the Israeli military said in a statement. Israeli extremists stormed at least two villages in the territory, attempting to burn Palestinian property and clashing with residents, according to Palestinian witnesses.
Binyamin Achimair, 14, had left a farming settlement in the West Bank to herd sheep on Friday morning, but never returned, according to the Israeli police. The Israeli forces later found his corpse, and the military said, without providing evidence, that he had been “murdered in a terrorist attack.”
After Binyamin’s disappearance on Friday, armed Israeli settlers stormed a Palestinian village near Ramallah, torching several buildings and cars, according to Palestinian officials and Yesh Din, an Israeli rights group. One Palestinian man — Jihad Abu Aliya — was killed during the clashes and at least 25 others wounded, according to the village mayor, Amin Abu Aliya.
Binyamin’s death and the possibility of further Israeli reprisals could ratchet up violence in the West Bank, where roughly 500,000 Israeli settlers live alongside about 2.7 million Palestinians. Over 400 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces across the West Bank and East Jerusalem since the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7 sparked Israel’s campaign in Gaza, according to the United Nations.
The Israeli military announced on Saturday that it would bolster its forces in the West Bank with additional companies and police.
The Israeli mob assaults returned on Saturday in both Al Mughayir and Duma, a nearby Palestinian village, according to an Israeli security official and Palestinian witnesses. Israeli settlers, some of them armed, entered the villages, the official added, and there were reports that they had opened fire.
In Duma, the attackers “covered the entire village,” some of them armed, said Naser Dawabsheh, a village resident. They set several buildings and cars ablaze, sending a cloud of dense smoke overhead, he added. Israeli soldiers “didn’t disperse the settlers, they protected them and fired tear gas at anyone who approached,” he said.
The clashes on Saturday in Al Mughayir left at least three Palestinians wounded, one critically, the Palestinian health ministry said.
“There’s no order, there’s no safety,” said Na’asan Na’asan, 28, a resident of Al Mughayir. “They’re shooting at us — why isn’t there anyone to protect us?”
A veteran Israeli photojournalist, Shaul Golan, 74, said in an interview that Israeli settlers also caught and beat him, before destroying his equipment, after he tried to film them in Al Mughayir. Some of them were masked, while others were wearing Israeli military uniforms, he added.
“I begged the soldiers there to help me, to save me,” said Mr. Golan. “But then I realized that they weren’t really soldiers — they were working with them.”
The Biden administration has said Israel must do more to clamp down on violence by extremist Israeli settlers, and it has imposed sanctions on several whom it said were involved in attacks on Palestinians. Israeli leaders denounced that move as interference in the country’s internal affairs.
As Israeli troops and police officers searched for Binyamin on Friday afternoon, armed Israeli settlers burst into Al Mughayir, setting buildings and cars on fire, said Mr. Abu Aliya. In video circulated by Yesh Din, smoke can be seen billowing from some burning cars and buildings.
In a statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel decried Binyamin’s “heinous murder” and vowed that Israel would “close accounts” with whoever killed him. He did not explicitly mention the settler rampages, instead telling the Israeli public to “allow the security forces to conduct their work unmolested” as they investigate the killing.
Yair Lapid, the leader of Israel’s parliamentary opposition, similarly condemned the teenager’s murder. But he also denounced the settler attacks, saying “the violent riots by settlers are a dangerous violation of the law, and they are hampering the forces operating on the ground.”
The Israeli military confirmed that multiple “violent riots” had taken place in the area during the search efforts on Friday. At one point, “rocks were hurled” at Israeli soldiers, leading them to open fire in response, the Israeli military said. The Israeli police and soldiers had also removed Israeli settlers who had entered Al Mughayir, the military said.
Israeli soldiers were in the area “even before the settlers arrived,” Mr. Na’asan said, but did not block them from entering the village and torching buildings and cars. It was not immediately clear how Jihad Abu Aliya, the village resident, was killed.
Human rights groups have long charged that the Israeli authorities do not do enough to prevent violent attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, and that the perpetrators are rarely arrested. An Israeli police spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment as to whether any Israelis had been arrested during the incident.
Last February, an attack by Israeli settlers devastated the Palestinian town of Huwara in the northern West Bank. At least one Palestinian was killed and 390 were wounded in the riot, according to Palestinian officials, in which Israelis burned a number of buildings and cars while terrified Palestinians fled burning homes.
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Michael D. Shear April 12, 2024, 3:58 p.m. ETApril 12, 2024 April 12, 2024 Michael D. Shear
President Biden vows to stand by Israel despite recent disagreements.
Image President Biden standing a lectern and wearing a blue suit. A logo of the White House is displayed in the background. President Biden and his top aides have made it clear that their disagreement with Israel over the war in the Gaza Strip would not prevent the United States from defending Israel.Credit...Al Drago for The New York Times
President Biden told reporters on Friday that he expected Iran to launch an attack on Israel “sooner than later” as a response to Israel’s killing of several top Iranian generals in a bombing in Syria two weeks ago.
Mr. Biden said he needed to be careful not to reveal classified information being collected by intelligence and military officials as they braced for an attack they believed was imminent. And he had a blunt, succinct answer when he was asked what his message to Iran was.
“Don’t,” he said.
Officials in the United States and other nations are engaged in a furious diplomatic effort to try to prevent a response from Iran that could spiral into a wider war. But Mr. Biden and his top aides have made it clear that their disagreement with Israel over the war in the Gaza Strip would not prevent the United States from defending Israel against attacks from other adversaries.
“We are devoted to the defense of Israel,” Mr. Biden told reporters at the White House after a speech to the National Action Network. “We will support Israel and help defend Israel, and Iran will not succeed.”
He did not specify what actions the United States might take.
John F. Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said earlier on Friday that the administration was taking the threat of an attack seriously.
“We are certainly mindful of a very public — and what we consider to be a very credible — threat made by Iran in terms of potential attacks on Israel,” he said. “We are in constant communication with our Israeli counterparts about making sure that they can defend themselves against those kinds of attacks.”
Mr. Kirby said the U.S. military was making adjustments to its force deployments in the Middle East to be ready in case an attack occurred, but he declined to be specific about those changes.
“We’re also clearly — it would be imprudent if we didn’t — taking a look at our own posture in the region, to make sure that we’re more properly prepared as well,” he said.
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Credit...Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA, via Shutterstock Euan Ward April 13, 2024, 6:00 p.m. ET3 hours ago 3 hours ago Euan Ward
Hezbollah announced in a statement just after midnight that it had fired dozens of rockets at an Israeli barracks in the Golan Heights. It was not immediately clear if the bombardment was connected to the Iranian attack. Lebanon’s state news agency earlier reported intense Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon.
Euan Ward April 13, 2024, 5:57 p.m. ET4 hours ago 4 hours ago Euan Ward
The airspaces of Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon are all now closed, according to Flightradar24, a real-time aircraft flight tracking tool.
Patrick Kingsley April 13, 2024, 5:53 p.m. ET4 hours ago 4 hours ago Patrick KingsleyJerusalem bureau chief
The Israeli military will hold a situational assessment at around 6 a.m. local time Sunday (11 p.m. Eastern time Saturday) to decide how to respond to the Iranian attack, according to an Israeli military official who briefed international journalists Saturday evening.
Tens of Israeli planes are flying across Israeli airspace, ready to shoot down Iranian aircraft, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to comply with military protocol.
He added that Israel may try to shoot down incoming aircraft before they reach Israeli airspace and said that it is “absolutely possible” that Jordan may fire on any Iranian aircraft that enter its skies.
Ronen Bergman April 13, 2024, 5:43 p.m. ET4 hours ago 4 hours ago Ronen Bergman
Israeli intelligence has detected the launch of dozens of drones and cruise missiles from Iran and Iraq, according to two Israeli officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss military intelligence. The areas of impact are expected to be the Golan Heights and an Israeli air force base in the Negev Desert, the officials said.
Cassandra Vinograd April 13, 2024, 5:26 p.m. ET4 hours ago 4 hours ago Cassandra VinogradReporting from Jerusalem
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel is currently meeting with his war cabinet, according to a statement from his office.
Farnaz Fassihi April 13, 2024, 5:25 p.m. ET4 hours ago 4 hours ago Farnaz Fassihi
Ali Vaez, the Iran director of the International Crisis Group said in an interview, “Iran and Israel are taking the region into uncharted waters. It is difficult to overstate how perilous this moment is, and how disastrous its consequences could prove.”
Michael D. Shear April 13, 2024, 5:12 p.m. ET4 hours ago 4 hours ago Michael D. Shear
President Biden arrived back at the White House at 5:02 p.m. Eastern time and walked quickly into the Oval Office. Officials said he would meet with his National Security Council soon.
Image
Credit...Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times Farnaz Fassihi April 13, 2024, 5:10 p.m. ET4 hours ago 4 hours ago Farnaz Fassihi
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said in their statement that the attack on Israel was ordered by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and was under the guidance of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the senior military body that coordinates Iran’s armed forces. The statement said that details of the operation will soon be shared with the public.
Aaron Boxerman April 13, 2024, 5:05 p.m. ET4 hours ago 4 hours ago Aaron BoxermanReporting from Jerusalem
Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military spokesman, calls the Iranian attack “a severe and dangerous escalation.”
“Our defensive and offensive capabilities are at the highest level of readiness ahead of this large-scale attack from Iran,” Hagari said.
Farnaz Fassihi April 13, 2024, 4:53 p.m. ET5 hours ago 5 hours ago Farnaz Fassihi
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said in a statement broadcast on state television that it had launched missile and drone attacks on Israel from Iran. “The aerospace unit of the Revolutionary Guards has attacked targets in Israel with dozens of drones and missiles in reaction to the Zionist regime’s crimes, including the attack on the consulate section of Iran’s embassy in Damascus and martyring our commanders and military advisers in Syria.”
Farnaz Fassihi April 13, 2024, 4:44 p.m. ET5 hours ago 5 hours ago Farnaz Fassihi
Iranian media affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, Tasnim, a semiofficial news agency, reported that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps had launched attacks on Israel 'from all directions.' It said dozens of drones from Iran 'were launched toward targets in occupied territories.'
Aaron Boxerman April 13, 2024, 4:39 p.m. ET5 hours ago 5 hours ago Aaron BoxermanReporting from Jerusalem
Israel plans to close its airspace to international and domestic air traffic beginning at 12:30 a.m. local time on Sunday, the Israel Airports Authority said in a statement, as the country awaits the arrival of Iranian drones fired at its territory.
Michael D. Shear April 13, 2024, 4:34 p.m. ET5 hours ago 5 hours ago Michael D. Shear
The spokeswoman for the National Security Council at the White House confirmed that Iran had launched a strike toward Israel and vowed to help Israel defend itself: “Iran has begun an airborne attack against Israel. President Biden is being regularly updated on the situation by his national security team and will meet with them this afternoon at the White House. His team is in constant communication with Israeli officials as well as other partners and allies.'
Michael D. Shear April 13, 2024, 4:35 p.m. ET5 hours ago 5 hours ago Michael D. Shear
'This attack is likely to unfold over a number of hours,' the spokeswoman, Adrienne Watson, said. 'President Biden has been clear: our support for Israel’s security is ironclad. The United States will stand with the people of Israel and support their defense against these threats from Iran.'
Aaron Boxerman April 13, 2024, 4:31 p.m. ET5 hours ago 5 hours ago Aaron BoxermanReporting from Jerusalem
As Israel awaits the arrival of Iranian drones, the Israeli war cabinet began meeting tonight around 11 p.m. local time before the expanded security cabinet meets at 12 a.m., said an Israeli official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door deliberations.
Julian E. Barnes April 13, 2024, 4:28 p.m. ET5 hours ago 5 hours ago Julian E. Barnes
Current and former American officials said it is likely that Iran will try to synchronize the drone attack with faster moving missiles, which would be launched later. The slow moving drones, the former official said, could be used to distract Israeli defenses.
Farnaz Fassihi April 13, 2024, 4:20 p.m. ET5 hours ago 5 hours ago Farnaz Fassihi
Iranians inside the country anxiously followed the news that their country has launched attacks on Israel, fearing a retaliation strike that could lead to war. Iran’s currency had been plunging daily in reaction to even possibility of attacks and many Iranians worried that the impact of the strikes on the economy and inflation would be immediate.
Ronen Bergman April 13, 2024, 4:19 p.m. ET5 hours ago 5 hours ago Ronen Bergman
Israel has evacuated certain military bases and launched aircraft and prepared air defenses to intercept what it believes are drones launched from western Iran and western Iraq, according to three senior Israeli defense officials.
Aaron Boxerman April 13, 2024, 4:18 p.m. ET5 hours ago 5 hours ago Aaron BoxermanReporting from Jerusalem
Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military spokesman, told reporters in a televised briefing that Iran “fired drones from its territory towards the territory of the state of Israel.” He said Israeli forces were following the aerial threat, which would take a few hours to arrive.
April 13, 2024, 2:14 p.m. ETApril 13, 2024 April 13, 2024 Michael D. Shear, Aaron Boxerman and Eric Schmitt
Biden returns to White House as Israel braces for Iranian aerial strikes. Military personnel saluting while standing next to a helicopter. President Biden walks up stairs into the helicopter.
President Biden returned from his vacation home in Rehoboth, Del., to the White House on Saturday evening to consult with his national security team about events in the Middle East.Credit...Yuri Gripas for The New York Times
The spokeswoman for the National Security Council at the White House confirmed Saturday evening that Iran had launched what she called “an airborne attack” against Israel and vowed that the United States would help Israel defend itself.
“President Biden is being regularly updated on the situation by his national security team and will meet with them this afternoon at the White House,” Adrienne Watson, the spokeswoman, said in a statement.
“This attack is likely to unfold over a number of hours,” she added. “President Biden has been clear: Our support for Israel’s security is ironclad. The United States will stand with the people of Israel and support their defense against these threats from Iran.”
The statement came as Mr. Biden headed back to the White House Saturday afternoon, cutting short a weekend trip to his vacation home in Rehoboth, Del.
Officials said the president would convene a meeting of his top national security aides in the Situation Room at the White House amid reports from the Middle East that Iran had deployed dozens of drones headed toward Israel.
Earlier in the day, Iranian forces had seized a container ship with links to Israel in the Persian Gulf, as leaders in the Middle East and beyond watched for a sign that Iran had begun an anticipated attack on Israel in retaliation for Israel’s airstrike in Damascus on April 1 that killed several Iranian military officers.
In Washington, Ms. Watson called on Iran to release the vessel and its crew immediately.
“Seizing a civilian vessel without provocation is a blatant violation of international law, and an act of piracy by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization,” she said in an earlier statement. “It must be condemned unequivocally, and we will work with our partners to hold Iran to account for its actions.”
At the same time, the U.S. secretary of defense, Lloyd J. Austin III, spoke with Israel’s minister of defense, Yoav Gallant, to discuss urgent regional threats and reiterated unwavering U.S. support for Israel’s defense, the Pentagon’s spokesman, Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, said.
Mr. Austin made clear that Israel could count on full U.S. support to defend itself against any attacks by Iran and its regional proxies.
“In recent days we have strengthened our defensive and offensive array and we are determined to take any measures required to defend the citizens of the State of Israel,” Mr. Gallant said in a statement.
In Israel, there were signs the country was girding for the expected Iranian assault; the Israeli government barred educational activities, including schools and the youth-movement hiking trips patronized by Israeli teenagers during the Passover holiday. Gatherings were limited to fewer than 1,000 people in most of the country for at least the next two days, the Israeli military’s Home Front Command announced.
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>hr> Hiba Yazbek Abu Bakr Bashir April 13, 2024, 11:18 a.m. ETApril 13, 2024 April 13, 2024 Hiba Yazbek and Abu Bakr Bashir
The Israeli military shifts its focus to the central Gaza Strip.
Image A woman strapped onto a yellow stretcher carried by two men with a group of onlookers in the background. A Palestinian woman injured in an Israeli bombardment of Nuseirat in central Gaza is brought into a hospital in Deir al-Balah on Saturday.Credit...Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Less than a week after withdrawing ground troops from southern Gaza, the Israeli military has shifted its focus to the central Gaza Strip, where its forces were operating for the third day on Saturday and residents and Palestinian media reported heavy bombardments and intense fighting.
The Israeli military announced on Thursday that it had begun a “precise operation” in the central Gaza Strip, saying it had carried out airstrikes ahead of its ground troops raiding the area. It added that the Israeli navy had conducted several strikes along the coastline to assist the ground troops.
Residents and Palestinian media said that the Israeli attack seemed to center on the Nuseirat refugee camp in Deir al-Balah, a city in the central Gaza Strip near a narrow Israeli-controlled corridor that splits northern Gaza, including Gaza City, from the rest of the territory.
Though Nuseirat began as a refugee camp for displaced Palestinians in the 1940s, it has been built up over the decades into an urban community.
Wafa, the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency, reported intense Israeli air raids on Nuseirat for a third consecutive day on Saturday. The Israeli military said in a statement that its troops were continuing their operation in central Gaza and that they had destroyed Hamas “infrastructure” in the area over the last day.
Khalil Farid, 57, who lives in the Nuseirat refugee camp, said in a text-message exchange on Friday that bombing and shelling had not stopped since the Israeli attack began Thursday afternoon. “The army gave no warning of this operation,” he said, adding that “no leaflets were dropped, and no one was told where to go or what to do.”
Mr. Farid said that the fighting appeared to be mostly in the northern part of the New Camp, one of the neighborhoods of Nuseirat where he is staying with nine other family members at his brother’s apartment. “We are all sitting in the living room praying and waiting for our fate,” he said.
Mr. Farid said that after fleeing to the city of Rafah in the south, he and his family had returned to central Gaza because it seemed that the situation in Rafah was not much safer. “Where will we and the others go? There are too many people here,” he said.
The United Nations office for humanitarian affairs said on Friday that three Palestinians were reportedly killed and others were injured when a U.N. school housing displaced people in Nuseirat camp was hit.
The Palestinian civil defense in Gaza said that its rescue crews had received “dozens of distress calls” after an Israeli strike on the school killed and wounded several people, adding that it was unable to evacuate the casualties because it was too dangerous to enter the area.
TRT, the national public broadcaster of Turkey, said on Friday that a cameraman and correspondent were wounded when a group of journalists reporting from Nuseirat were hit by Israeli tank fire. CNN also said that a freelance reporter working for the network was lightly injured in the same attack.
Hamas said in a statement on Friday that the Nuseirat camp, which was “crowded with displaced people from various regions of the strip,” was under “a barbaric attack” that resulted “in dozens of martyrs and wounded.”
Show more Christopher F. Schuetze April 13, 2024, 10:34 a.m. ETApril 13, 2024 April 13, 2024
Christopher F. Schuetze
Iran seizes a commercial ship linked to Israel.
Iranian forces seized a container ship with links to Israel in the Persian Gulf on Saturday, as leaders in the Middle East and beyond watched for a retaliatory strike by Iran against Israel.
MSC, a major shipping company, said on Saturday that the MSC Aries, which is registered in Portugal, had been boarded by “Iranian authorities” via helicopter as it passed the Strait of Hormuz.
A video shared by Iranian state media showed a military helicopter hovering above what appeared to be the stern of the ship, with at least two soldiers descending a rope onto the deck.
The soldiers were part of the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, according to IRNA, the state news agency.
A spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council, Adrienne Watson, called on Iran to release the vessel and its crew immediately.
“Seizing a civilian vessel without provocation is a blatant violation of international law, and an act of piracy by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization,” she said in a statement. “It must be condemned unequivocally, and we will work with our partners to hold Iran to account for its actions.”
Though it is operated by MSC, the 1,200-foot cargo vessel belongs to an affiliate of Zodiac Maritime, which is part of the Zodiac Group, owned by the Israel-born billionaire Eyal Ofer, making it a possible target for Iranian retaliation. Tehran has vowed a retaliatory strike after blaming Israel for an attack on an Iranian embassy building in Syria that killed 12 people, among them top military generals.
Israel Katz, Israel’s foreign affairs minister, confirmed the seizure on social media and said Iran’s leadership was “a criminal regime that supports Hamas’ crimes and is now conducting a pirate operation in violation of international law.”
Six months after the Hamas attack on Israel that started the war in Gaza, the seizure comes amid fears of a wider conflict involving Iran directly. Iran is a backer of Hamas, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi rebels in Yemen, but has so far stayed clear of direct involvement. On Friday, President Biden said that he expected Iran to launch a retaliatory attack “sooner than later,” and reiterated that the United States remained committed to the defense of Israel.
It was not immediately clear if the seizure of the ship was part of Iran’s promised response to the attack in Syria, but it was not the first time Iran had directly seized a commercial vessel. In January, Iran’s navy seized a tanker loaded with oil off the coast of Oman. In that seizure, soldiers also descended from a hovering helicopter.
Before the war in Gaza, the United States said that Iran had “harassed, attacked or interfered” with more than a dozen internationally flagged merchant ships in recent years.
For their part, the Houthis have disrupted a significant part of the world’s shipping by attacking dozens of vessels heading to or from the Suez Canal.
The MSC Aries had 25 crew members on board, according to its operator.
Show more Aaron Boxerman April 13, 2024, 7:58 a.m. ETApril 13, 2024 April 13, 2024 Aaron BoxermanReporting from Jerusalem
The death of a 14-year-old further inflames tensions in the West Bank.
Image A man stands amid burned metal supports and charred ground. A Palestinian man inspecting damage on Saturday after Israeli settlers attacked the village of Al Mughayir, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.Credit...Mohamad Torokman/Reuters
An Israeli teenager whose disappearance had led to riots by Israeli settlers in the West Bank was found dead on Saturday, the Israeli authorities said, threatening to further inflame tensions in the Israeli-occupied territory.
Dozens of Israelis and Palestinians were wounded during clashes at several locations across the West Bank later on Saturday, the Israeli military said in a statement. Israeli extremists stormed at least two villages in the territory, attempting to burn Palestinian property and clashing with residents, according to Palestinian witnesses.
Binyamin Achimair, 14, had left a farming settlement in the West Bank to herd sheep on Friday morning, but never returned, according to the Israeli police. The Israeli forces later found his corpse, and the military said, without providing evidence, that he had been “murdered in a terrorist attack.”
After Binyamin’s disappearance on Friday, armed Israeli settlers stormed a Palestinian village near Ramallah, torching several buildings and cars, according to Palestinian officials and Yesh Din, an Israeli rights group. One Palestinian man — Jihad Abu Aliya — was killed during the clashes and at least 25 others wounded, according to the village mayor, Amin Abu Aliya.
Binyamin’s death and the possibility of further Israeli reprisals could ratchet up violence in the West Bank, where roughly 500,000 Israeli settlers live alongside about 2.7 million Palestinians. Over 400 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces across the West Bank and East Jerusalem since the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7 sparked Israel’s campaign in Gaza, according to the United Nations.
The Israeli military announced on Saturday that it would bolster its forces in the West Bank with additional companies and police.
The Israeli mob assaults returned on Saturday in both Al Mughayir and Duma, a nearby Palestinian village, according to an Israeli security official and Palestinian witnesses. Israeli settlers, some of them armed, entered the villages, the official added, and there were reports that they had opened fire.
In Duma, the attackers “covered the entire village,” some of them armed, said Naser Dawabsheh, a village resident. They set several buildings and cars ablaze, sending a cloud of dense smoke overhead, he added. Israeli soldiers “didn’t disperse the settlers, they protected them and fired tear gas at anyone who approached,” he said.
The clashes on Saturday in Al Mughayir left at least three Palestinians wounded, one critically, the Palestinian health ministry said.
“There’s no order, there’s no safety,” said Na’asan Na’asan, 28, a resident of Al Mughayir. “They’re shooting at us — why isn’t there anyone to protect us?”
A veteran Israeli photojournalist, Shaul Golan, 74, said in an interview that Israeli settlers also caught and beat him, before destroying his equipment, after he tried to film them in Al Mughayir. Some of them were masked, while others were wearing Israeli military uniforms, he added.
“I begged the soldiers there to help me, to save me,” said Mr. Golan. “But then I realized that they weren’t really soldiers — they were working with them.”
The Biden administration has said Israel must do more to clamp down on violence by extremist Israeli settlers, and it has imposed sanctions on several whom it said were involved in attacks on Palestinians. Israeli leaders denounced that move as interference in the country’s internal affairs.
As Israeli troops and police officers searched for Binyamin on Friday afternoon, armed Israeli settlers burst into Al Mughayir, setting buildings and cars on fire, said Mr. Abu Aliya. In video circulated by Yesh Din, smoke can be seen billowing from some burning cars and buildings.
In a statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel decried Binyamin’s “heinous murder” and vowed that Israel would “close accounts” with whoever killed him. He did not explicitly mention the settler rampages, instead telling the Israeli public to “allow the security forces to conduct their work unmolested” as they investigate the killing.
Yair Lapid, the leader of Israel’s parliamentary opposition, similarly condemned the teenager’s murder. But he also denounced the settler attacks, saying “the violent riots by settlers are a dangerous violation of the law, and they are hampering the forces operating on the ground.”
The Israeli military confirmed that multiple “violent riots” had taken place in the area during the search efforts on Friday. At one point, “rocks were hurled” at Israeli soldiers, leading them to open fire in response, the Israeli military said. The Israeli police and soldiers had also removed Israeli settlers who had entered Al Mughayir, the military said.
Israeli soldiers were in the area “even before the settlers arrived,” Mr. Na’asan said, but did not block them from entering the village and torching buildings and cars. It was not immediately clear how Jihad Abu Aliya, the village resident, was killed.
Human rights groups have long charged that the Israeli authorities do not do enough to prevent violent attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, and that the perpetrators are rarely arrested. An Israeli police spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment as to whether any Israelis had been arrested during the incident.
Last February, an attack by Israeli settlers devastated the Palestinian town of Huwara in the northern West Bank. At least one Palestinian was killed and 390 were wounded in the riot, according to Palestinian officials, in which Israelis burned a number of buildings and cars while terrified Palestinians fled burning homes.
Show more Michael D. Shear April 12, 2024, 3:58 p.m. ETApril 12, 2024 April 12, 2024 Michael D. Shear
President Biden vows to stand by Israel despite recent disagreements.
Image President Biden standing a lectern and wearing a blue suit. A logo of the White House is displayed in the background. President Biden and his top aides have made it clear that their disagreement with Israel over the war in the Gaza Strip would not prevent the United States from defending Israel.Credit...Al Drago for The New York Times
President Biden told reporters on Friday that he expected Iran to launch an attack on Israel “sooner than later” as a response to Israel’s killing of several top Iranian generals in a bombing in Syria two weeks ago.
Mr. Biden said he needed to be careful not to reveal classified information being collected by intelligence and military officials as they braced for an attack they believed was imminent. And he had a blunt, succinct answer when he was asked what his message to Iran was.
“Don’t,” he said.
Officials in the United States and other nations are engaged in a furious diplomatic effort to try to prevent a response from Iran that could spiral into a wider war. But Mr. Biden and his top aides have made it clear that their disagreement with Israel over the war in the Gaza Strip would not prevent the United States from defending Israel against attacks from other adversaries.
“We are devoted to the defense of Israel,” Mr. Biden told reporters at the White House after a speech to the National Action Network. “We will support Israel and help defend Israel, and Iran will not succeed.”
He did not specify what actions the United States might take.
John F. Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said earlier on Friday that the administration was taking the threat of br>
Mr. Biden said he needed to be careful not to reveal classified information being collected by intelligence and military officials as they braced for an attack they believed was imminent. And he had a blunt, succinct answer when he was asked what his message to Iran was.
“Don’t,” he said.
Officials in the United States and other nations are engaged in a furious diplomatic effort to try to prevent a response from Iran that could spiral into a wider war. But Mr. Biden and his top aides have made it clear that their disagreement with Israel over the war in the Gaza Strip would not prevent the United States from defending Israel against attacks from other adversaries.
“We are devoted to the defense of Israel,” Mr. Biden told reporters at the White House after a speech to the National Action Network. “We will support Israel and help defend Israel, and Iran will not succeed.”
He did not specify what actions the United States might take.
John F. Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said earlier on Friday that the administration was taking the threat of an attack seriously.
“We are certainly mindful of a very public — and what we consider to be a very credible — threat made by Iran in terms of potential attacks on Israel,” he said. “We are in constant communication with our Israeli counterparts about making sure that they can defend themselves against those kinds of attacks.”
Mr. Kirby said the U.S. military was making adjustments to its force deployments in the Middle East to be ready in case an attack occurred, but he declined to be specific about those changes.
“We’re also clearly — it would be imprudent if we didn’t — taking a look at our own posture in the region, to make sure that we’re more properly prepared as well,” he said.