EXPLAINER
Iran fired hundreds of drones and missiles into Israel over the weekend in response to a suspected Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria on April 1.
This is what it says on Monday, April 15, 2024:
Fighting and humanitarian crisis
- Five people were injured in an Israeli airstrike near the European Hospital south of the city of Khan Younis, the Wafa news agency reported on Sunday, citing medical sources.
- Displaced Palestinians trying to return to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip said they had come under fire from the Israeli army in a video confirmed by Al Jazeera on Sunday.
- Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed at least 33,729 Palestinians and injured 76,371 since October 7. The death toll in Israel from Hamas’ October 7 attacks stands at 1,139, with dozens of people still being held captive.
Diplomacy and geopolitical tensions
- Bangs and airstrike sirens rang out across Israel early Sunday after Iran fired hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles in an unprecedented revenge mission that brought the Middle East closer to a region-wide war.
- In Washington, DC, President Joe Biden said US forces had helped Israel repel “almost all” drones and missiles and pledged to convene allies to develop a unified response. The US president will host the Iraqi leader for talks this week.
- On Sunday, United Nations chief Antonio Guterres called for de-escalation at a UN Security Council meeting to discuss Iran’s attacks on Israel.
- Iran’s UN ambassador told the meeting that his country had no choice but to act after the international community failed to denounce Israel’s attack on its embassy in Syria on April 1. Israel’s ambassador called for “all possible sanctions” against Iran, saying Tehran had crossed a “red line.”
- According to a report by AFP news agency on Sunday, a senior US official confirmed that Biden told the Israeli prime minister that Washington would not offer military support in retaliation against the Iranian attack.
- Separately, the US president on Sunday called on congressional leaders to pass a spending bill that includes $14 billion in aid for Israel.
- In the region, the U.S. military said Sunday that its Central Command troops had successfully attacked and destroyed more than 80 “one-way attack” drones and at least six ballistic missiles intended to attack Israel from Iran and Yemen.
- India also asked Iran to release 17 Indian crew members on board a container ship seized by Iran on Saturday.
Violence in the occupied West Bank
- Israeli forces have arrested eight people in early morning raids across the occupied West Bank, Wafa said. Six people were arrested in raids near the town of Tulkarem, while two were arrested from Kafr Nima, west of the city of Ramallah, Wafa reported on Monday.
- Israeli settlers uprooted 30 olive trees and several almond trees in the town of Qarawat Bani Hassan, west of Salfit in the occupied West Bank, on Sunday, Wafa reported.