Israeli airstrikes target Gaza sites, first since cease-fire
Jerusalem: Israeli aircraft carried out a series of airstrikes at Gaza Strip early Wednesday, the first such raids since a shaky cease-fire ended the war with Hamas last month.
The airstrikes targeted facilities used by Hamas for meetings to plan attacks, the Israeli military said, blaming the group for any act of violence emanating from Gaza. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
On Tuesday, hundreds of Israeli ultranationalists, some chanting Death to Arabs, paraded in east Jerusalem in a show of force that threatened to spark renewed violence. Palestinians in Gaza responded by launching incendiary balloons that caused at least 10 fires in southern Israel.
The march posed a test for Israel's fragile new government as well as the tenuous truce that ended last month's 11-day war between Israel and Hamas.
Palestinians consider the march, meant to celebrate Israel's capture of east Jerusalem in 1967, to be a provocation. Hamas called on Palestinians to resist the parade.
With music blaring, hundreds of Jewish nationalists gathered and moved in front of Damascus Gate. Most appeared to be young men, and many held blue-and-white Israeli flags as they danced and sang religious songs.
At one point, several dozen youths, jumping and waving their hands in their air, chanted: Death to Arabs! In another anti-Arab chant, they yelled: "May your village burn.
In a scathing condemnation on Twitter, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said those shouting racist slogans were a disgrace to the Israeli people, adding: The fact that there are radicals for whom the Israeli flag represents hatred and racism is abominable and unforgivable.
The crowd, while boisterous, appeared to be much smaller than during last month's parade. From the Damascus Gate, they proceeded around the Old City to the Western Wall, the holiest place where Jews can pray.
Ahead of the march, Israeli police cleared the area in front of Damascus Gate, shut down roads to traffic, ordered shops to close and sent away young Palestinian protesters. Police said that officers arrested 17 people suspected of involvement in violence, some of whom threw rocks and attacked police, and that two police officers needed medical treatment. Palestinians said five people were hurt in clashes with police.
The parade provided an early challenge for Israel's new prime minister, Naftali Bennett, a hardline Israeli nationalist who has promised a pragmatic approach as he presides over a delicate, diverse coalition government.
Though there were concerns the march would raise tensions, canceling it would have opened Bennett and other right-wing members of the coalition to intense criticism from those who would view it as a capitulation to Hamas. The coalition was sworn in Sunday and includes parties from across the political spectrum, including a small Arab party.
Mansour Abbas, whose Raam party is the first Arab faction to join an Israeli coalition, said the march was an attempt to set the region on fire for political aims, with the intention of undermining the new government.
Abbas said the police and public security minister should have canceled the event. I call on all sides not to be dragged into an escalation and maintain maximum restraint, he said.
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US, Israel launch attack on Iran with tensions high over nuclear talks
Dubai (AP): The US and Israel launched a major attack on targets across Iran on Saturday, and US President Donald Trump called on the Iranian people to “take over your government” — an extraordinary appeal that suggested the allies could be seeking to end of the country's theocracy after decades of tensions.
The first strikes of the attack appeared to target the compound home to Iran's 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in downtown Tehran. It wasn't immediately clear if he was there at the time. Smoke could be seen rising from the Iranian capital.
“For 47 years, the Iranian regime has chanted Death to America and waged an unending campaign of bloodshed and mass murder, targeting the United States, our troops and the innocent people in many, many countries,” Trump said in a video posted on social media that sought to justify the attacks. He urged Iranians to take cover during the strikes, but then: “When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take.”
The attack quickly expanded beyond Iran. Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it responded by launching a “first wave” of drones and missiles targeting Israel, where a nationwide warning was issued as the military said it bring down Iranian fire.
Meanwhile, Bahrain said that a missile attack targeted the US Navy's 5th Fleet headquarters in the island kingdom. Witnesses heard sirens and explosions in Kuwait, home to US Army Central. Explosions could be also be heard in Qatar.
Iraq and the United Arab Emirates closed their airspace, and sirens sounded in Jordan.
The Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen, meanwhile, vowed to resume attacks on Red Sea shipping routes and on Israel, according to two senior Houthi officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because there was no official announcement from the Houthi leadership.
Iran's Foreign Ministry issued a defiant statement, saying that the country “will not hesitate” in its response. In a statement posted on X, the ministry said: “The time has come to defend the homeland and confront the enemy's military assault.”
'Major combat operations'
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Trump said in the video that the US had begun “major combat operations in Iran" after the US assembled a vast fleet of fighter jets and warships in the region to try to pressure Iran into a deal over its nuclear programme.
Trump claimed in the video that Iran has continued to develop its nuclear programme and plans to develop missiles to reach US He acknowledged that there could be American casualties following Iran strikes, saying “that often happens in war.”
Iran has said it hasn't enriched since June, but it has blocked international inspectors from visiting the sites America bombed during a 12-day war then. Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press have shown new activity at two of those sites, suggesting Iran is trying to assess and potentially recover material there.
Iran currently has a self-imposed limit on its ballistic missile programme, limiting their range to 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles). That puts all the Mideast and some of eastern Europe in their range. There is no public evidence of Iran seeking to have intercontinental ballistic missiles, though Washington has criticized its space programme as potentially allowing it to one day.
Tensions have soared in recent weeks as American warships moved into the region, and Trump said he wanted a deal to constrain Iran's nuclear programme. He saw an opportunity while the country is struggling at home with growing dissent following nationwide protests.
Iran had hoped to avert a war, but maintains it has the right to enrich uranium and does not want to discuss other issues, like its long-range missile programme or support for armed groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.
But Trump's statement indicated the US was striking for reasons far beyond the nuclear programme, listing grievances stretching back to the beginning of the Islamic Republic.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel — which considers Iran its archenemy — said the joint attack was to “remove an existential threat posed” by Iran.
“Our joint operation will create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their fate into their own hands,” Netanyahu said.
Targets in the Israeli campaign included Iran's military, symbols of government and intelligence targets, according to an official briefed on the operation, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic information on the attack.
Iran retaliates
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Hours after the strikes, Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it launched a “first wave” of drones and missiles targeting Israel. It had vowed to respond if attacked, including saying American military personnel and bases spread across the region would be targets.
Explosions rocked Israel as the country worked to intercept incoming Iranian missiles. There was no immediate word on any damage or casualties from the ongoing attack.
Several hospitals in Israel launched their emergency protocols, including moving patients and surgeries to underground facilities.
US embassies or consulates in Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Israel posted on social media that they told staffers to shelter in place and recommended all Americans “do the same until further notice.”
Strikes hit targets across Iran
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Iranian media reported strikes nationwide. Roads to Khamenei's compound in downtown Tehran had been shut down by authorities as other blasts rang out across the capital.
In Tehran, witnesses heard the first blast by Khamenei's office. Iranian state television later reported on the explosion, without offering a cause.
More explosions struck Iran's capital after Israel said it was attacking the country. Authorities have offered no casualty information from the strikes.
