The Australian/Rolling Coverage/13.4.2024

• Israel and US stand ‘shoulder to shoulder’
• One dead after Israel hunt for teen in West Bank turns violent
• Hezbollah fires rockets into Israel
• Biden’s message to Iran: ‘don’t’
• Israel pounds Gaza as Iran threat puts region on edge
• Iran threatens to strike Israel, US intelligence warns

US President Joe Biden sent the head of US Central Command, General Michael Kurilla, to Israel for urgent talks on the threat from Iran.

After meeting Kurilla on Friday, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel and the United States stood “shoulder to shoulder”, despite recent differences over the conduct of the war in Gaza.

“Our enemies think that they can pull apart Israel and the United States, but the opposite is true – they are bringing us together and strengthening our ties,” Gallant said.

Washington, which has had no diplomatic relations with Tehran since the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic revolution, also asked its allies to use their influence with Iran to urge restraint, the State Department said.

After calls with his Australian, British and German counterparts Thursday, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said: “Iran does not seek to expand the scope of the war.” But he added that it felt it had no choice but to respond to the deadly attack on its diplomatic mission after the UN Security Council failed to take action.

Lebanon’s Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah said it fired “dozens of Katyusha rockets” at Israeli artillery positions Friday, a bombardment it said was in response to Israeli strikes in the south.

The Israeli army said approximately 40 launches were identified, some of which were intercepted. “No injuries were reported,” it added.

– AFP

One dead after Israel hunt for teen in West Bank turns violent/Agency writers

Israel launched a massive manhunt in the occupied West Bank on Friday after an Israeli teenager went missing, with the search party clashing with Palestinian villagers, sources from both sides said.

Benjamin Achimeir, 14, went missing at around 6.30am from Malachi Hashalom, an outpost near Ramallah, the Israeli army and a family member said.

The Israeli army said that air, ground, police and other forces were involved in the search, “blocking roads and scanning the area”.

Thousands of people joined them, said Israel Ganz, head of the Binyamin Regional Council which provides services to Israeli settlements in the area.

“Thousands of volunteers from across the country are searching together with army units and the council,” he said in a video statement.

“All possibilities are on the table, and all forces are treating every scenario seriously. We will remain here until we find Benjamin.” Hannah, sister of the missing teenager, said her brother was familiar with the area, where he often herded sheep.

An AFP reporter saw several Jewish settlers who were part of the manhunt raiding the nearby village of Al-Mughayyir, some 500m west of Malachi Hashalom.

“Settlers raided the town with the excuse of searching for the missing Israeli boy,” village mayor Amin Abu Alyah said.

“They raided the village when the army arrived to back them up.” Armed with guns and stones, the settlers stormed the Palestinian village even as a muezzin urged residents to stay indoors.

In the ensuing violence, at least one person was killed and 25 wounded, the Palestinian health ministry said.

Eight of the wounded were hit with live ammunition, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.
Late on Friday the army said security forces had moved to disperse “violent riots” in the area, adding that “rocks were hurled at… soldiers, who responded with fire”.

“Forces operated to withdraw Israeli civilians who entered the town of Al-Mughayyir,” it said.

“As of this moment, the violent riots have been dispersed and there are no Israeli civilians present within the town.” The army disclosed that one soldier was taken to hospital after being hurt “as a result of the rock hurling”.

– AFP

US targets Hamas drones unit officials/Staff writers

The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has announced it is targeting leaders of Hamas’ offensive cyber and drone units as well as the group’s spokesperson, concurrent with the EU’s imposition of sanctions against Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad earlier Friday.

“Today’s joint action reinforces our continued, collective focus on disrupting Hamas’s ability to conduct further attacks, including through cyber warfare and the production of UAVs,” the Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson is reported as saying in Haaretz.

“Treasury, in coordination with our allies and partners, will continue to target Hamas’s facilitation networks wherever they operate, including in the cyber domain,” Nelson added.

Blinken in talks with Jordan over Iran/Staff writers

US Secretary of State of State Antony Blinken has held talks with Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi to discuss the need to avoid “further escalation in the region by Iran,” as well as “diplomatic efforts to achieve an enduring end to the crisis in Gaza,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

According to the statement, Secretary Blinken “thanked Jordan for its leadership in facilitating the delivery of life-saving humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza,” and the two “discussed ongoing efforts to secure an immediate ceasefire in Gaza over a period of at least six weeks as part of a deal that would release hostages.”

Hezbollah fires rockets into Israel

Dozens of rockets were fired by Hezbollah into northern Israel on Friday night in a possible prelude to a feared Iranian revenge attack, as the US reinforced its military presence in the Middle East.

The Iran-backed terrorist group, which has conducted frequent cross-border attacks on Israel, claimed in a statement that it fired the volley in response to Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon.

The Israeli military said about 40 rockets had been launched, some of which were intercepted, along with two kamikaze drones. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Israel is on high alert for a revenge attack by Iranian forces or their regional proxy forces, of which Hezbollah is the most powerful. Tehran has threatened reprisals after an Israeli strike on its consulate in Damascus on April 1 killed 13 people. Israel has vowed to respond against Iran if attacked.

It was unclear how much of an escalation the latest launches constituted, given previous exchanges of fire. However, the threats from Iran, and American intelligence reports about a possible “imminent” escalation in the Israel-Hamas war, has prompted the Pentagon to deploy a US aircraft carrier group to the northern Red Sea, as well as other unspecified resources.

Earlier reports indicated that the Pentagon was deploying extra air defence systems to guard against the possibility that a strike against Israel would also target US forces.

Three US service personnel were killed in January when a drone launched by Islamist factions in the region hit a military outpost in Jordan. US troops stationed in Iraq and Syria also came under attack by Iran-backed proxy forces on more than 100 occasions between October and February.

France, Poland and India have joined the growing number of countries urging citizens not to travel to Israel because of heightened fears of an attack.

The British government already advises against all travel to Gaza, the West Bank and parts of northern Israel. It advises against all but essential travel to the rest of Israel.

The advice means that British holiday companies should not operate in the country, although flights are unaffected at present. British Airways resumed flights to Tel Aviv on April 1, flying four times a week via Larkana in Cyprus.

Sources said the government was monitoring the situation and would change its advice if needed.

On Friday, the French foreign ministry advised its citizens against travelling to Iran, Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian territories. It added that relatives of Iran-based diplomats would return to France.

The advice came as the US embassy in Israel said staff had been told not to travel outside the greater Jerusalem, Tel Aviv or Beersheba areas “out of an abundance of caution”.
Poland’s foreign ministry also updated its travel guidance on Friday to advise against travel to Israel, Palestine and Lebanon.

– Alistair Dawber, Ben Clatworthy/The Times

Biden’s message to Iran: ‘don’t’/Agency writers

US President Joe Biden on Friday afternoon (Saturday AEDT) urged Iran not to attack Israel, with his remarks coming after reports said a direct attack could come as soon as Friday or Saturday.

When asked what his message to Iran is in this moment, Biden said simply: “Don’t.”

The president also said his expectation is an attack could come “sooner than later,” when he was asked how imminent it might be.

“We are devoted to the defence of Israel,” Biden added, as he spoke with reporters after giving a virtual address to a convention for the National Action Network, an organisation founded by the Rev. Al Sharpton.

“We will support Israel and help defend Israel, and Iran will not succeed.”

– Dow Jones Newswires

Israel pounds Gaza as Iran threat puts region on edge

Residents reported heavy Israeli fire in central Gaza on Friday, with regional tensions soaring after Iran threatened reprisals over a strike in Syria this month that killed two Iranian generals.

As talks for a truce and hostage release dragged on, fears that Iran could soon launch an attack on Israel prompted the United States to announce it was sending reinforcements to the Middle East as a deterrent.

US President Joe Biden said he expected Iran to attempt to strike Israel soon but warned it against attacking the US ally in retaliation for the April 1 strike on its Damascus consulate.

Authorities in Hamas-ruled Gaza reported dozens of new air strikes in the central region where most Israeli troops have regrouped in recent days.

Israel’s military said its aircraft had struck more than 60 militant targets in Gaza over the previous day.

The Hamas media office said 25 people were taken to hospital in Deir al-Balah “as a result of an air strike on a house”.

Mohammed al-Rayes, 61, said he fled Israeli “air strikes and artillery shelling” in Nuseirat overnight.

“It was all fire and destruction, with so many martyrs lying in the street,” he said.

Another resident, Laila Nasser, 40, reported “shells and missiles” throughout the night.

“They will do to Nuseirat what they did to Khan Yunis,” said Nasser, vowing to flee to the southernmost city of Rafah, like most of Gaza’s population.

– AFP
Iran threatens to strike Israel, US intelligence warns/Cameron Stewart Anne Barrowclough

The US has reportedly rushed warships into position to protect Israel and American forces in the region, as Israel prepares for a direct attack from Iran within days or even hours, in a move that would trigger a major military response from the Jewish state and risk a regional war in the Middle East.

The US moves included repositioning two destroyers, one of which was already in the region and another that was redirected there, the Wall St Journal reports. An official told the newspaper at least one of the vessels carried the Aegis missile-defence system.

A number of American F15-e fighters have also been moved from RAF Lakenheath in the UK to the Middle East, according to military blogger OSINTdefender