Israel's foreign minister, Israel Katz, said on Friday that he expects his “allies to join Israel” in “attacking Iran” if the Islamic Republic attacks his country, as he hosted his French and British counterparts.
“Israel expects France and the United Kingdom to tell Iran clearly and publicly that it is forbidden to attack Israel and that if Iran attacks, the US-led coalition will join Israel, not only to defend it, but also to attack important targets in Iran,” his office said in a statement.
French Foreign Minister Stephane Le Foll said, “It is inappropriate to talk about a response and readiness for an Israeli response, even a defensive one, while we are working to reach a diplomatic agreement.”
Diplomacy must succeed now. […] “We are working to avoid this Iranian response,” he said, while Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iran said they were “obligated” to respond after the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, attributed to Israel, and Hezbollah’s military commander in an Israeli raid.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a phone interview with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant that the United States is “monitoring the offensive plans of Iran and its proxies” and is “well positioned throughout the region to defend Israel and protect American personnel and facilities,” according to a statement from his office.
While the international community has been concerned for months about the conflict spilling over into the region, Mr. Sigourney said he wanted to “send very clear messages to the Israelis, to Hezbollah, and also to the Iranian side to avoid escalation in the region.”
Discussions on a ceasefire and hostage release concluded Friday in Doha after US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators presented a new settlement proposal to Israel and Hamas.
The talks are due to resume next week in Cairo, but the Palestinian Islamist movement has already rejected “new terms” for a deal put forward by mediators trying to broker a ceasefire that would include the release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, where Israel and the Islamist movement have been at war for more than a decade.
The French minister stressed: “We are at a moment, within a few days, that will be decisive in this conflict that has lasted for a long time.”
The war in Gaza was sparked by an unprecedented attack launched by Hamas on Israel on October 7, which killed 1,198 people, most of them civilians, according to a count by Agence France-Presse based on official Israeli figures.
At least 40,005 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli retaliation, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, which has not provided details on the number of civilians and fighters killed.
