Turkey has accused Israel of having brought the Middle East to “the brink of a greater war” following a series of pre-dawn Israeli airstrikes against military sites in Iran.
“Putting an end to the terror created by Israel in the region has become a historic duty in terms of establishing international security and peace,” Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
It called on the international community to take “immediate action to enforce the law and stop the Netanyahu government.”
Turkey has been a harsh critic of Israel’s military operations in Gaza and Lebanon while voicing support for Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Israel said it unleashed the airstrikes early Saturday against facilities used to make the missiles fired at Israel and surface-to-air missile locations, and as a response to the barrage of ballistic missiles the Islamic Republic fired upon Israel earlier this month.
Iran launched a series of ballistic missiles at Israel less than a week after the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and a day after ground operations started in Lebanon. The attack has added to fears of a wider conflict in the region.
“Iran attacked Israel twice, including in locations that endangered civilians, and has paid the price for it,” said Israeli military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari.
“We are focused on our war objectives in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. It is Iran that continues to push for a wider regional escalation.”
Saturday’s attack came as part of Israel’s “duty to respond” to attacks on it from “Iran and its proxies in the region,” Hagari said.
Iran launched about 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on the evening of Oct. 1, sending Israelis scrambling into bomb shelters and killing one person in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Iran said the barrage was retaliation for attacks in recent months that killed leaders of Hezbollah, Hamas and the Iranian military.
Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Abbas Araghchi visited Beirut one week after Israeli airstrikes killed Hezbollah’s senior leader, Hassan Nasrallah. In Tehran, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei justified Iran’s recent missile attack on Israel as ‘legal and legitimate.’
The Iranian Foreign Ministry called the airstrikes a clear violation of international law as it asserted Tehran’s right to self-defence, but the attack did not target the most sensitive oil and nuclear facilities and drew no immediate vows of vengeance.
The White House warned Tehran against retaliation, saying the strikes should end the direct exchange of fire between the Israel and Iran.
Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday condemned the Israeli military action, urging an immediate ceasefire to protect civilians and reduce regional tensions.
The attack risks pushing the archenemies closer to all-out war at a time of spiralling violence across the Middle East, where militant groups backed by Iran are already at war with Israel.
2 Iranian soldiers reported killed
Iran insisted the strikes caused only “limited damage” and Iranian state-run media downplayed the attacks. Iran’s army said two of its troops had been killed in the attack, Iran’s Al-Alam television reported.
The Israeli military said it carried out “precise strikes on military targets in Iran,” and, according to two Israeli officials, it was not targeting nuclear or oil facilities. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the ongoing operation with the media.
Iran’s military said the strikes targeted military bases in Ilam, Khuzestan and Tehran provinces, without elaborating.
The airstrikes came in waves overnight near the capital Tehran and along the Iraqi border. No Iraqi military, economic or civilian facilities were affected, the Iraqi state news agency cited a security source as saying. They marked the first time Israel’s military has openly attacked Iran, which hasn’t faced a sustained barrage of fire from a foreign enemy since its 1980s war with Iraq.
Israel’s opposition leader, Yair Lapid, criticized the decision to avoid “strategic and economic targets” in the attack. “We could and should have exacted a much heavier price from Iran,” Lapid wrote on social media platform X.
Egypt said it’s following with “great concern the rapid and serious escalation” in the region, including Israel’s attack on Iran, and warned about “serious confrontations” across the Middle East.
The Foreign Ministry said that a ceasefire deal in Gaza “is the sole means to de-escalate” tensions in the Middle East.
Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been leading efforts to reach a ceasefire deal in Gaza, which includes the release of hostages held by Hamas, as well as Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Egypt’s flagship airliner has cancelled Saturday flights from Cairo to Baghdad and Erbil in Iraq and Amman, Jordan.
EgyptAir blamed the cancellations on “the ongoing developments in the region.”
Germany’s Scholz urges Iran to de-escalate
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on Iran to end the cycle of escalation following the Israeli strikes, saying restraint could pave the way for peace in the Middle East.
“My message to Iran is clear: We cannot continue with massive reactions of escalation. This must end now. This will provide an opportunity for peaceful development in the Middle East,” Scholz said in a post on social media platform X.
Scholz said the Israeli attack aimed to minimize casualties, creating an opportunity to avoid further escalation.
The United States said on Sunday it will send to Israel an advanced anti-missile system — and U.S. troops to operate it — in a bid to bolster the country’s air defences following missile attacks by Iran.
Read more: cbc.ca/1.7351563
“What is important is that there needs to be a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of the hostages. I call on all parties to do this. The same applies to Lebanon,” Scholz said.
Fears of a wider escalation in the Middle East have increased since Iran’s attack on Israel in response to Israeli military action against Tehran’s allies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The worsening conflict in Lebanon, where Israel is waging a campaign against Hezbollah to stop it firing rockets into northern Israel, has raised the temperature still further.
The shadow war has increasingly moved into the light since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas and other militants attacked Israel. They killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took some 250 hostages into Gaza, according to Israeli officials. In response, Israel launched a devastating air and ground offensive against Hamas.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep fighting until all of the hostages are freed. Some 100 remain, of whom roughly a third are believed to be dead. Nearly 43,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to local health officials.