Author: France 24

An Iranian missile strike on Israel late Saturday severely wounded a 7-year-old girl in southern Israel, the sole victim of the Islamic Republic’s retaliatory attack. The little girl currently in intensive care belongs to the Bedouin community, descendants of Muslim Arab shepherds who live in the Negev and are often denied many of the rights granted to other citizens. “We have no shelter,” lamented Amina’s father, who criticised Israeli authorities for leaving him and his family at the mercy of rockets and missiles. Source link

As the international community holds its breath to see Israel’s next step after an Iranian attack late Saturday involving hundreds of drones and missiles, an immediate response appears unlikely due to the “international pressure” on Israel, said Julien Barnes-Dacey, MENA Programme Director at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Barnes-Dacey also noted restraint from Iran as the Islamic Republic is “desperate not to get sucked in a direct war with Israel and the US, since October 7th”. Source link

Israel and Iran accused one another Sunday at the United Nations of being the main threat to peace in the Middle East, each calling on the Security Council to impose sanctions on their sworn enemy. While Israel accused Iran of terrorism, Iran responded saying it was exercising its right to self-defence following a deadly Syria strike that it blamed on Israel. Source link

Crude oil prices subside as traders bet that the worst is over in tensions between Iran and Israel, although fears remain. Meanwhile, investors charge into safe-haven assets like gold, and Chinese market regulators roll out new investor protections. Source link

Iran launched explosive drones and fired missiles at Israel late on Saturday in its first direct attack on Israeli territory, a retaliatory strike against Israel’s bombing of its consulate in Syria’s capital on April 1 that killed seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. An Israeli military spokesman said Sunday the Iranian launches numbered more than 300, but 99% of them were intercepted. Source link

Iran launched an unprecedented attack on Israel late Saturday less than two weeks after a suspected Israeli strike in Syria killed two Iranian generals. “Iran is a military dwarf compared to Israel so there is no way that it would be able to fight off a military attack by Israel into Iran. So they’re really playing with fire by launching this attack for the first time from Iranian territory into Israel,” FRANCE 24’s Philip Turle said in an analysis. Source link

Countries around the world condemned Iran’s strikes on Israel late Saturday, warning the attack threatened to further destabilise the Middle East. US President Joe Biden promised “ironclad” support for Israel after holding an urgent meeting with top security officials. France’s Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne on X said that “in deciding to take this unprecedented action, Iran has reached a new level in its acts of destabilisation and is risking a military escalation”. Source link

Israel and Iran accused one another Sunday at the United Nations of being the main threat to peace in the Middle East, each calling on the Security Council to impose sanctions on their sworn enemy. Follow FRANCE 24 for live updates.  Source link

The Iranian attack on Israel Saturday in retaliation for an alleged Israeli strike that killed two senior commanders in Syria, marked the first time Iran has launched a direct military assault on Israel, despite decades of enmity dating back to the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. But relations between two foes haven’t always been marked by hostility: Iran was the second Muslim nation to recognise the state of Israel following its creation in 1948. Source link

The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas has rejected an Israeli ceasefire proposal, saying on Saturday it had handed to mediators in Egypt and Qatar its response to the proposal it had received last Monday. Israel meanwhile described this as a rejection of the proposal, accusing Hamas of exploiting tensions with Iran. FRANCE 24’s Shirli Sitbon explains more. Source link