G7 urges restraint and de-escalation in Mideast, saying recent events ‘threatened to ignite a broader conflict in the region’; Austin, Gallant speak as CENTCOM chief due in Israel
By TOI STAFFToday, 10:11 am
A man rides his moped past a billboard bearing portraits of slain terror leaders, Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas (left), Iranian Quds Force chief Qasem Soleimani (C), and Hezbollah senior commander Fuad Shukr on the main road near the Beirut International Airport on August 3, 2024. (Photo by Ibrahim AMRO / AFP)
US President Joe Biden will convene his national security team in the situation room on Monday to discuss developments in the Middle East, the White House said, with the US said to believe an Iranian attack on Israel is imminent.
Biden will also speak with Jordan’s King Abdullah, the White House added.
The call comes a day after Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi made a rare visit to Iran amid continued diplomatic contacts by the United States and its partners, including France, Britain, Italy, and Egypt, to prevent further regional escalation.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told counterparts from G7 countries on Sunday that Washington believes an Iranian attack on Israel could begin within the next 24 to 48 hours, Axios reported, citing sources briefed on the call.
Blinken said that the US doesn’t know the exact timing of the planned Iranian attack, Axios said, but believes it could start as early as Monday.
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In a statement, the G7 urged restraint and de-escalation in the Middle East, saying that recent events “threatened to ignite a broader conflict in the region.”
US President Joe Biden delivers remarks on a prisoner swap with Russia from the State Dining Room of the White House, August 1, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The G7 urged “all involved parties once again to refrain from perpetuating the current destructive cycle of retaliatory violence, to lower tensions and engage constructively toward de-escalation,” in a statement.
The assessment that Iran is likely to attack Israel in the coming days or weeks follows last week’s back-to-back assassinations of Hezbollah military chief Fuad Shukr in Beirut by an Israeli strike and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Iran has blamed Israel for Haniyeh’s death and has vowed to retaliate.
According to the report, Blinken spoke with his counterparts amid efforts by the US to de-escalate tensions in the region and prevent the eruption of an all-out war.
As the US believes an Iranian attack is inevitable, Blinken told the officials on the call that pressuring Tehran to limit its assault is the best way to avoid regional war.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a signing ceremony with Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Singapore on July 31, 2024. (Roslan RAHMAN / AFP)
Israel and the US were said on Sunday to be unsure what an attack by Iran could look like, believing Tehran has yet to come to a final decision and is unlikely to have finished coordinating with its proxies.
Israeli officials have reportedly conceded that there may be damage and casualties.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday evening, Austin’s office said in a readout of the call.
The two discussed Israel’s right to self-defense against threats from Iran and its proxies, and the steps that the US is taking to bolster protection for Israel and for its own forces in the region, the readout stated. There was no immediate comment from Gallant’s office.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, standing right, and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, standing left, listen to the playing of the Israeli National Anthem during an arrival ceremony at the Pentagon in Washington, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/ Susan Walsh)
The call came as Gen. Michael Kurilla, commander of the US CENTCOM, was expected to arrive in Israel on Monday, Axios reported.
Kurilla’s trip to the region, where he has been since Saturday, was planned before the recent developments that stoked the threat of war, but he is now expected to cobble together the same coalition of forces that helped thwart Iran’s past direct attack on Israel, according to a US official.
Meanwhile, Hebrew media reported Sunday evening that Israel would consider launching a preemptive strike to deter Iran if it uncovered airtight evidence that Tehran was preparing to mount an attack. The reports came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened Israel’s security chiefs.
The meeting was attended by Gallant, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, Mossad head David Barnea and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.
Israel is not certain what to expect from Iran and its proxies, reports have estimated, and so is discussing a wide range of options as to how it can best respond to, or prevent, an anticipated assault.
An Israeli navy war ship patrol off the coast of Haifa, on August 1, 2024 (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
During the meeting with Netanyahu, the option of striking Iran as a deterrent measure was discussed, the Ynet news site reported, although security officials stressed that such a move would only be authorized if Israel received definite intelligence confirming that Tehran was about to launch an attack of its own.
Jerusalem would require its own intelligence on the issue to match up with US intelligence on the matter, the report said, and even if it did match, it may still choose to avoid going down the route of a preemptive strike.
At the same time as Israel and the US prepare for whatever attack Iran ultimately chooses to launch, Washington and its allies, both in the West and in the Middle East, have continued to push both Israel and Iran to de-escalate the situation, and to avoid the possibility of triggering an all-out regional war.
An image grab from a video taken early on April 14, 2024, shows the Dome of the Rock atop the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City, with the lights of missile interceptions visible in the night sky, after Iran fired ballistic missiles at Israel (AFP)
While tensions have ramped up considerably following the assassination of Shukr and Haniyeh, the region has been in turmoil since October 7, when Hamas launched an unprecedented cross-border attack on Israel in which terrorists murdered some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
Israel responded by launching an offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which it said would destroy the terror group’s military and governing capabilities. The Hamas-run health ministry has said that more than 39,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.
Israel says it has killed some 15,000 combatants in battle and some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 attack. Its toll in the ground offensive and in military operations along the border stands at 331.
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