New Delhi: Israel’s allies Monday reached out to Israel to prevent escalation of tension in West Asia by dissuading Tel Aviv from launching retaliatory strikes after Iran’s attack late Saturday night.
The Iranian strike, which saw nearly 300 drones and missiles launched directly at Israel late Saturday, was a retaliation for the attack on its diplomatic compound in Damascus, Syria on 1 April, which killed senior commanders and officers of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
One minor was injured by the Iranian strikes, while it did little damage to infrastructure across Israel. Tel Aviv claims that over 99 percent of the missiles and drones were shot down.
On Monday, UK’s foreign secretary David Cameron urged Israel to not escalate the situation further during an interview with British news media channel Sky News. Cameron, in a wide-ranging interview, also conceded that Tehran to an extent had a right to respond to the Damascus consulate attack.
On questioning how the UK would react to a strike against one of its diplomatic properties, Cameron told Sky News, “We would take very strong action. Countries have the right to respond when they feel they have suffered aggression, of course they do.”
“I would argue that there is a massive degree of difference between what Israel did in Damascus and 301 weapons being launched by the state of Iran at the state of Israel…If you’re sitting in Israel this morning you’re thinking they have every right to respond to this, and they do, but we are urging that they shouldn’t escalate,” he added.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken in every call Sunday with leaders from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Türkiye, the UK and Germany, emphasised the need to prevent further escalation in the region and indicated that Washington D.C. “does not seek escalation” according to the various readouts published by the department of state.
French president Emmanuel Macron also urged Israel to avoid escalation, while remarking that Iran’s response to the consulate attack in Damascus was “disproportionate” according to local media reports.
The European Union (EU), in its statements, have also asked Tel Aviv to not escalate the situation further, while condemning Tehran’s actions.
The Western leaders have indicated that they are looking forward to imposing further sanctions against Iran. The Americans, the British and the French militaries helped Tel Aviv in shooting down the missiles and drones launched by Iran in the weekend.
However for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the pressure from Israel’s allies is pitted against pressure from his own governing coalition. Netanyahu’s four-seat majority in the Israeli Knesset is dependent on the support from some of the most conservative political parties in Tel Aviv.
On Sunday, his minister of national security and far-right leader Itamar Ben-Gvir in a post on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) said, “To create deterrence in the Middle East, the owner of the house must go crazy.”
כדי לייצר הרתעה במזרח התיכון – בעל הבית חייב להשתגע. pic.twitter.com/CUqsF9LRzN
— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) April 14, 2024
For Netanyahu, letting go the first direct attack against Israel from Iran without any reprisals could further seemingly dent his domestic popularity — which has already been affected by the Hamas assault on 7 October, 2023.
Iran, in its own public statements, have indicated no intention of any further retaliation, deeming the matter “concluded” according to a statement by its permanent representative to the United Nations Sunday.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: Indian officials will be allowed to meet 17 crew members of seized ship soon, says Iran