Israel orders mass 'evacuation' from Northern Gaza, humanitarian crisis certain to ensue

[Broomstick]

Unfortunately I expect that you are correct given the power amassed by the death-cult Armageddon-lusting so-called "Christians" who love the notion of Israel at war.

[Ralin]

I can't prove it but I feel like the Armageddon death cult Rapture-ready Christians are probably an exaggerated influence compared to the less extreme but still heavily right-wing Christians who support Israel because they see Jews as being their co-religionists at least as much as Catholics or Mormons and just generally support their treatment of Muslims because they think it's good.

[Dark Hellion]

I can't prove it but I feel like the Armageddon death cult Rapture-ready Christians are probably an exaggerated influence compared to the less extreme but still heavily right-wing Christians who support Israel because they see Jews as being their co-religionists at least as much as Catholics or Mormons and just generally support their treatment of Muslims because they think it's good.

As an American, I would have said that 5 years ago but I feel like the influence has flipped. The death cult has taken over and hedged out these far-right Christian groups. Or more, that a lot of the far-right group have, if not completely embraced the rapture ready mindset, embraced the general views of the armageddon cultists. You also have different alt-right doomsday prepper groups who are accelerationists who also want to enact some doomsday and will support these cult Christian groups because of this.

There has been an incredible amount of brain drain from the far right/alt right groups over the last decade and a lot of them no longer have completely coherent worldviews. They are scared, desperate and painfully stupid people looking for comfort in institutions that have changed radically since they last used them. And these people vote.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Biden says he expects Iran will attack Israel ‘sooner than later’

US President Joe Biden has said that he expects Iran will attack Israel “sooner than later” as tensions in the region continue to rise.

“I don’t want to get into secure information but my expectation is sooner than later,” Biden told reporters at a White House briefing on Friday when asked how imminent an Iranian attack on Israel would be.

Asked what his message to Iran is right now, the president said: “Don’t.”

In response to more shouted questions from reporters in the room, the president returned to the podium to add that the United States is “devoted” to the defence of Israel.

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

The US has been on high alert for a significant Iranian retaliatory attack on Israel in recent days as fears grow of a wider regional war.

There remains a “real,” “credible” and “viable” threat of Iran launching strikes, the White House said on Friday, following Israel’s attack on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria last week that killed three Iranian generals.

Biden, who warned this week that Iran was threatening a “significant attack” on Israel, has been receiving constant updates on the situation from his national security team.

The US and several other countries, including Britain and France, issued new travel guidelines for government employees in Israel as the Iranian threat loomed.

On Thursday, Rishi Sunak said that Britain had already “highlighted Iran as a significant risk to regional security” and taken steps to protect the UK from threats from Tehran.

Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said that he made clear to his Iranian counterpart, Amir-Abdollahian, that Iran "must not draw the Middle East into a wider conflict" in a discussion on Thursday.

"I am deeply concerned about the potential for miscalculation leading to further violence. Iran should instead work to de-escalate and prevent further attacks," he said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, also on Thursday.

The US will attempt to intercept any weapons launched at Israel if it’s feasible to do so, two officials told CNN, an indication of the level of ongoing cooperation between the two militaries.

US Navy forces in the Red Sea have previously intercepted long-range missiles launched from the Houthis in Yemen towards Israel.

Meanwhile, US forces in Iraq and Syria could also potentially intercept drones and rockets targeting northern Israel, depending on the location from which they’re launched.

[J]

Iranian drone strike is on the way to Israel. Reports are mixed and claim anywhere from dozens to hundreds of drones.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68810053

Iran has launched aerial drones at Israel, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says, appearing to mark a widely anticipated reprisal attack.
Israel's Channel 12 TV says the salvo is expected to reach Israel at 02:00 on Sunday (23:00 GMT on Saturday).
It said Israeli forces were on high alert and "monitoring all targets".
Iran had vowed to retaliate for an attack on its consulate in Syria on 1 April which killed seven military officers, including a top commander.
It accused Israel of carrying out that attack. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied it.
Shortly before news of Iran's drone launch, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country's "defensive systems" were deployed.
"We are ready for any scenario, both defensively and offensively. The State of Israel is strong. The IDF is strong. The public is strong.
"We appreciate the US standing alongside Israel, as well as the support of Britain, France and many other countries."

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Israel won't be caught with their pants down, with a warning time measured in hours which is more than they need. The effect this will have, will become apparent any time now.

[Broomstick]

An internet acquaintance on another forum who lives in Israel is reporting air raid sirens going off in Israel now. The Iron Dome has been blowing some stuff up. So... the start of this is arriving in Israel. I guess all we can do is wait and see.

[Juubi Karakuchi]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/ ... next-steps

Fate of Middle East hangs in the balance as Israel mulls its next steps
Julian Borger
in Washington

Joe Biden is believed to have urged restraint, and Tehran deems the matter ‘concluded’ but ultimately Israel’s response lies in the hands of three prickly rivals in its war cabinet

Sun 14 Apr 2024 05.53 BST


The prospect of a major regional war in the Middle East hangs in the balance on Sunday morning, when Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet is due to meet to decide Israel’s response to Iran’s drone and missile attack.

Netanyahu’s ministers voted in the middle of the night to delegate that decision to the tiny war cabinet, comprising Netanyahu, defence minister Yoav Gallant and Benny Gantz, a Netanyahu opponent who joined the government as minister without portfolio after the Hamas 7 October attack, which began the spiral of violence that has brought Israel and Iran to the brink of war.

These three prickly rivals will decide the next step, with the fate of the region now resting in their hands.

In the nervous hours leading up to the war cabinet meeting, Netanyahu and Biden spoke by phone for 25 minutes, during which, according to some reports in the Israeli media, the US president urged restraint.

Biden issued a statement minutes after the call in which he gave no explicit advice to Netanyahu but he noted that with US help, “nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles” had been brought down.

That “remarkable” defensive capacity, Biden argued, was by itself “a clear message to its foes that they cannot effectively threaten the security of Israel”.

As of early Sunday morning, the only reported casualty from the aerial onslaught was a 10-year-old girl in Israel’s southern desert, from the country’s most marginalised community, the Bedouins. A southern military base was lightly damaged.

In the run-up to the expected Iranian assault, US officials had hypothesised just such an outcome: that Iranian projectiles would fall in the desert and not cause significant casualties. In that case, the officials predicted, Washington would urge strongly against a rash Israeli response.

Iran is clearly hoping for such a muted response. In a message delivered through its mission at the UN, Tehran suggested hopefully that in the wake of its retaliation: “The matter can be deemed concluded.”

Both Biden and the Iranians are well aware that Netanyahu would ideally like to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities, which he has long seen as an existential threat to Israel. Reducing them to rubble would be very hard without US help, but it is possible that he and other Israeli hawks could try seize this opportunity to deliver that ambition.

NBC News reported on Saturday night that some top administration officials are “concerned Israel could do something quickly in response to Iran’s attacks without thinking through potential fallout afterward”.

The report said Biden had privately expressed concern that Netanyahu is “trying to drag the US more deeply into a broader conflict”, citing three people familiar with the president’s comments.

Administration officials are well aware that Netanyahu has an incentive to keep hostilities going, as it fends off the collapse of his coalition and new elections.

While the damage to Israel was minimal, Israeli officials could argue that was no thanks to Tehran, but to the reliability of Israeli air defence and its allies, most notably the US, the UK and Jordan. Jordan risked being lambasted in the Arab world for intercepting some of the Iranian drones as they crossed its airspace.

That joint action, prepared in the week before the Iranian attack, almost certainly saved lives and may have fended off a wider war. It could also serve as a reminder of Israel’s dependence on the US to keep Israelis safe.

In the short term, Washington can draw comfort from a few signs any Israeli response will not at least be immediate. Israel has called for a UN security council session on the attack, which will happen at 4pm New York time on Sunday. It would be surprising if a counter-attack was launched before that session.

Another possible sign that the response could be muted was Gallant’s conversation with his US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, after the attacks. According to the Israeli defence ministry, Gallant “emphasised that the defence establishment is prepared for any further attempts to attack the state of Israel”. His comments made no mention of Israel striking back.

A third positive sign in the early hours of Sunday was a reassurance from an Israeli official cited by the New York Times that “Israel’s response would be coordinated with its allies”.

Washington is likely to remind Israel in the coming hours and days of its gains from having withstood Iran’s fury, largely unscathed.

The attack has for now distracted global attention from Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza. Furthermore, the Iranian attack is also likely to dispel murmurs in the US Congress about curbing weapons supplies to Israel because of Gaza. Now such restrictions can be cast by Israel’s supporters as leaving America’s leading ally in the Middle East defenceless in the face of the proven Iranian threat.

So, Iran hit Israel with a drone and missile strike...and it was ineffectual.

There's a lot of ways to look at this. Netanyahu almost certainly provoked this attack in order to make sure America couldn't cut him off. But doing so was a terrible risk; any deaths or damage that resulted would be on him. At the same time, it's a reminder to remember who his friends are; considering how much help Israel got shooting down the missiles.

I'm not quite sure what Iran hoped to get out of this either. To retaliate when attacked is one thing, but there seems to have been no good outcome here. Either Iran's much-hyped missile and drone arsenal ain't all it's cracked up to be; or they deliberately held back in the hope of not provoking an overwhelming response. In the first case Iran looks weak; in the second case it looks irresponsible and stupid, especially since the retaliation might happen anyway.

[Ralin]

Not sure how true this is, but I read elsewhere that the attack used up like a billion dollars worth of interceptor rockets that can't be easily replaced even with Uncle Joe bankrolling them.

I'm not quite sure what Iran hoped to get out of this either. To retaliate when attacked is one thing, but there seems to have been no good outcome here. Either Iran's much-hyped missile and drone arsenal ain't all it's cracked up to be; or they deliberately held back in the hope of not provoking an overwhelming response. In the first case Iran looks weak; in the second case it looks irresponsible and stupid, especially since the retaliation might happen anyway.

1) They couldn't afford to not retaliate after an offense like that between the need to save face internationally and not look weak at home. The Israelis bombed a consulate for fuck's sake.

2) Of course they wouldn't pull out all the stops. It's supposed to be a punch in the face, not the opening salvos of a war. You don't go all out for that. And doing this does give them practical data on how good Israel's air defense really is

3) Apparently they're saying they fucked up the base that the consulate attack was launched from pretty bad. Which if true satisfies some of the tit for tat aim

[J]

The drone attack was more about sending a political message than anything else. As noted above, the Iranians had to do something to keep their people & allies happy after the recent string of Israeli attacks against Iranian targets, especially after the consulate strike in Syria. Iran restricted its attack to military targets in accordance with international law, it is in fact a legal response to the Israeli bombing of the Iranian consulate.

This does several things.
- It shows that Iran is a country which knows what the rules are and can function as part of the international community.
- It gives the US an off-ramp to de-escalate or extricate itself from the developing situation
- It puts further pressure on Israel, which just got an airbase wrecked if early reports are confirmed. If they do nothing they look weak, if they retaliate things get interesting since the US has now stated that they will not support retaliations. Israel is on their own if they escalate.
- Iran will learn a lot about Israeli air defences once it goes over the data from the attack, the next one will be more effective
- That data will also be shared with allies, which helps all of them out in their goals

[Ralin]

It was also a highly telegraphed attack (I don't know enough to say how they could have made it less so, admittedly) that gave ample time for non combatants to take cover. And this was after Iran went to the UN and petitioned the Security Council to censure Israel for their crimes and were blocked by the US and allies. Hard to see how this wasn't a model of restraint on the Iranians' parts in terms of how they reacted.

It's not like they blew up a hospital in Tel Aviv or something horrific like that.

[Juubi Karakuchi]

Fair points all round. I just can't shake the feeling that Iran is taking a terrible risk here. It would suit a lot of people in certain governments if the Iranian regime were to fall; or at least if its nuclear programme were to be disrupted. Giving them an excuse, however thin, is inherently risky.

That said, Israel did technically strike first by hitting the Damascus embassy; which would explain why it's going to the UN rather than retaliating now. If Iran manages not to make any further provocations, then the matter probably is concluded.

[Broomstick]

So, Iran hit Israel with a drone and missile strike...and it was ineffectual.

Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile defense is generally considered to be both the best in the world and best in history. Iran had to know that most, if not all, of their barrage was going to be shot down.

There's a lot of ways to look at this. Netanyahu almost certainly provoked this attack in order to make sure America couldn't cut him off.

I think it's more a matter of Netanyahu seeing an opportunity to kill off some high-level Iranian military people.

At the same time, it's a reminder to remember who his friends are; considering how much help Israel got shooting down the missiles.

Not just the US but also the UK, France, and Jordan were skeet-shooting last night. In Jordan's case I think the fact the country is right between Iran and Israel had a lot to do with it - if those to go at it Jordan will be literally caught in the middle.

I'm not quite sure what Iran hoped to get out of this either.

To save face and demonstrate they actually have a military.

To retaliate when attacked is one thing, but there seems to have been no good outcome here. Either Iran's much-hyped missile and drone arsenal ain't all it's cracked up to be; or they deliberately held back in the hope of not provoking an overwhelming response. In the first case Iran looks weak; in the second case it looks irresponsible and stupid, especially since the retaliation might happen anyway.

I think Iran felt they needed to respond with some kind of military demonstration in return for the bombing of their embassy. The barrage - which they knew would largely be shot down - demonstrates they have military capability but at the same time casualties would be minimal. There is no way Iran could have avoided some sort of retaliation because that sort of regime only stays in power if they look strong enough to protect and/or hold down people under them. I think there were days put into planning this in the hopes of making it look strong enough without actually prompting a lethal response from the other side.

And, as you point out - it could all be for nought. Netanyahu might decide to escalate. He might have decided to escalate even if the Iranian government had done nothing.

Fair points all round. I just can't shake the feeling that Iran is taking a terrible risk here. It would suit a lot of people in certain governments if the Iranian regime were to fall; or at least if its nuclear programme were to be disrupted.

Yes, well, all of that has been true for the last, oh, fifty years so what, exactly, is new here...?

That said, Israel did technically strike first by hitting the Damascus embassy

There is nothing "technical" about it - Israel bombed an embassy which is very much an act of war. They are the aggressors here. Iran has every right to defend itself just like every other sovereign nation.

[Solauren]

Another way to look at it is this;

Iran just gave Israel a warning. Iran has the capacity to strike back at them.
It showed that it could. (the drones reaches Israel, and despite warning, causes damage).

However, Iran also showed they don't want to be (directly) involved in the current fighting.
(They gave advanced warning).

I wouldn't be surprised if it was revealed that Irans drones had capacity for alot more damage then they inflicted (i.e they could have been carrying 20+ times the explosive power), but all that was pulled before launch.

This was the political equal of a slap to the face of Israel, in order to get the to stop doing something stupid. Israel grabbed Iran's ass. Iran turned around, and slapped Israel in the face. Israel stumbled backwards and sat down in a chair. Israel now has the choice of standing back up and taking a swing at Israel, or pretending the entire incident didn't occur.

There is also the implication that if Iran can do that, maybe all it's Allies can do, and that the US would rather that didn't happen.
(That would be the 10 locals in the bar standing up, followed by Israel's big friend going 'Dude, not worth it')

[EnterpriseSovereign]

At the same time, it's a reminder to remember who his friends are; considering how much help Israel got shooting down the missiles.

Not just the US but also the UK, France, and Jordan were skeet-shooting last night. In Jordan's case I think the fact the country is right between Iran and Israel had a lot to do with it - if those to go at it Jordan will be literally caught in the middle.

There's another country smack in the middle in between them, between Jordan and Iran sits Iraq.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Of course, Israel has a third option of launching attacks on Iran's allies/proxies in the area, there's certainly enough of them to choose from.

[Ralin]

Can't imagine this will be good for the Jordanian government, which was already dealing with serious protests over all this.

Of course, Israel has a third option of launching attacks on Iran's allies/proxies in the area, there's certainly enough of them to choose from.

Happily it turns out the current Iranian government aren't such shameless barbarians as to bomb an Israeli embassy in retaliation.

[Ralin]

Also I remind you that attacking Iranian allies and proxies would mean launching a strike on a third country and likely killing their citizens.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Also I remind you that attacking Iranian allies and proxies would mean launching a strike on a third country and likely killing their citizens.

Such as Lebanon.

The Hezbollah source told AFP that "the Israeli strike targeted an area... near Baalbek and targeted a two-storey building belonging to Hezbollah," adding there were no casualties.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported that "an enemy air strike targeted a building" in the village of Nabi Sheet and "destroyed it".

An AFP photographer at the site saw the concrete and steel wreckage of the building, levelled in the attack.

The Israeli army said in a statement that in response to launches overnight, "fighter jets struck a significant Hezbollah weapons manufacturing site" in the Nabi Sheet area "deep inside Lebanon".

Earlier Sunday, Hezbollah said it had twice launched barrages of Katyusha rockets towards the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, saying they were in response to Israeli attacks on "villages and towns" in Lebanon.

It has launched similar barrages in the past, but Sunday's launches coincided with a major Iranian drone and missile attack against Israel.

The Iranian attack was in response to an April 1 air strike widely blamed on Israel that destroyed an Iranian consulate building in Damascus, killing seven Revolutionary Guards, including two generals.

Hamas ally Hezbollah has exchanged near-daily cross-border fire with Israel since the Palestinian militant group attacked southern Israel on October 7, triggering war in the Gaza Strip.

The violence, which has largely been contained to the Israeli-Lebanese border area, has killed at least 364 people in Lebanon, mostly Hezbollah fighters but also including at least 70 civilians, according to an AFP tally.

Hezbollah on Sunday said one of its fighters from south Lebanon's Khiam had been killed, without specifying where or when he died.

The Israeli army had also said its fighter jets struck Hezbollah "military structures" in south Lebanon overnight, including in Khiam.

The NNA reported Israeli attacks on various locations in south Lebanon overnight, and at least one strike on Sunday afternoon.

In Israel, the military says 10 soldiers and eight civilians have been killed since hostilities began.

Tens of thousands of civilians have fled their homes on both sides of the border.

[Broomstick]

There's another country smack in the middle in between them, between Jordan and Iran sits Iraq.

True, but I have zero information on the response of Iraq to all this. If you have anything please share.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

There's another country smack in the middle in between them, between Jordan and Iran sits Iraq.

True, but I have zero information on the response of Iraq to all this. If you have anything please share.

Nothing official apart from them closing their own airspace during the attack, Iraqi media reported part of an Iranian missile has been found in the Soran district of Irbil in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq:
Iranian missile falls in Iraqi province after attack on Israel

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Israel calls on countries to sanction Iran after vowing 'a response' to attack

Israeli officials are calling on countries around the world to place sanctions on Iran after it launched an extensive drone and missile attack on Israel on Saturday.

Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced on X on Tuesday he has sent letters to 32 countries and has spoken to "dozens of foreign ministers and leading figures" calling for sanctions to be imposed on the Iranian missile project.

He also asked those nations, which appear to include the UK, US, Germany, France and Japan based on the ministers tagged in the social media post, to declare the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a "terrorist organisation" as a "way to curb and weaken Iran".

Meanwhile Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has still not spoken to his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, despite saying he would do so "shortly" around on Monday afternoon.

A Number 10 spokesperson said the two sides were still "working out diaries" and rejected the idea that the delay was "embarrassing".

“The Prime Minister has regularly spoken with Netanyahu ... Our position is very clear, it’s the same as the US and we obviously have contact with the Israeli government through many different channels.”

Israel said on Monday it would respond to Iran's attack, despite world leaders urging them not to retaliate.

Ministers from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war cabinet have agreed to "clearly and forcefully" strike back, but hope to "avoid casualties," ITV News understands.

It is unclear when this response will happen but it has conclude the fifth set of talks since the weekend on Tuesday.

Lieutenant General Halevi spoke during a visit to the Nevatim air base, which Israel says was damaged in the Iranian attack, but is still "functional around the clock."

Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari also said his country "shall do whatever is needed in order to protect state of Israel... at a time and date we choose" during a press conference on Monday.

He said four members of the IDF were injured, including one who was taken to hospital after Iran launched 170 drones, more than 30 cruise missiles and at least 120 ballistic missiles in an assault which set off air raid sirens across Israel on Saturday night.

Meanwhile, the IDF is continuing its assault in Lebanon and Gaza with the military confirming it killed a Hezbollah commander on Tuesday.

"Earlier today, an IAF (Israeli Air Force) aircraft struck and eliminated Ismail Yusaf Baz, the commander of Hezbollah’s coastal sector," the IDF confirmed in a statement.

It added that "Ismail served as a senior and veteran official in several positions of Hezbollah's military wing. His current rank is equivalent to a brigade commander."

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah confirmed in a statement that Ismail had been killed in southern Lebanon.

In Gaza, Israeli attacks have killed at least 46 Palestinians over the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health there reported, raising the total death toll to 33,843 people.

On Monday, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he will urge the Israeli leader to show restraint following the large-scale drone and missile attack by Iran.

"We would urge them to take the win at this point. We want to avoid further escalation and bloodshed," Mr Sunak told the Commons.

Mr Sunak said he would be speaking "shortly" to Mr Netanyahu "to express our solidarity with Israel in the face of this attack and to discuss how we can prevent further escalation".

His comments come as the government was warned Iran is "within minutes" of developing a nuclear capability and is "mad enough to use it".

The foreign secretary is also expected to visit Israel soon, and on Monday urged Tel Aviv to be "smart as well as tough" by not escalating the conflict with Iran.

Concerns around Iran's nuclear programme have spiked in the Commons and a number of senior Tory MPs have called for its army, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to be banned and labelled a prescribed terror group.

"We must return to sanctions and, if you are not going to ban the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps], then at the very least, visas should not be granted to those clerics, so-called, that go forward and backwards between Tehran and London and ferment trouble in London," independent crossbench peer Baroness Deech said.

The Royal Air Force (RAF) joined allies in defending Israel, with British jets shooting down a number of Iranian attack drones on Saturday night.

Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron has urged Israel to think with "head as well as heart" before deciding how it should respond to the Iranian attack.

Lord Cameron told ITV News that Tehran had suffered a "double defeat" in its "dangerous and reckless attack" over the weekend and that the world can now see it is the "malign influence" in the Middle East.

Israel said it had intercepted "99%" of what Iran had launched against it, with the attack deemed over by Sunday morning.

The United States and Britain have confirmed they helped intercept some of the more than 300 drones and missiles launched by Iran.

The assault was launched in response to a strike widely blamed on Israel against an Iranian consular building in Syria earlier this month, which killed two Iranian generals.

An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson reiterated Iran's stance on Monday that it's attack was "legitimate" and "responsible", adding that "military action was the last resource which exhausted all the diplomatic channels".

But Downing Street later rejected Iran's assertion it gave advance warning of its drone and missile attack on Israel, as the prime minister's official spokesman revealed they were not briefed directly by Iran on their attacks.

'Israel has a right to respond, but we are urging them that we respond with head as well as heart, that we're smart as well as tough,' Lord Cameron told ITV News

Asked if he had a message for Britons concerned that the UK could be dragged into a wider conflict in the Middle East, Lord Cameron said the government is working in "our national interest."

Speaking to ITV News, he added: "The role that we played, a limited role but an important role, in helping to stop the escalation was in Britain’s national interest."

World leaders urged restraint from all sides at an emergency meeting of the United Nations (UN) Security Council on Sunday.

United States national security spokesman John Kirby told NBC that US President Joe Biden does not want an escalation in the regional conflict or a "wider war" with Iran, and is "working on the diplomatic side of this personally".

Mr Biden hosted Iraq’s leader at the White House as his administration worked to prevent an escalation in Mideast hostilities, on Monday.

Speaking after the IDF's announcement, Mr Kirby declined to say whether the U.S. had been or expects to be briefed on Israeli plans.

“We will let the Israelis speak to that,” he told reporters Monday.

The US has ruled out being party to a direct strike on Iran.

Jordan, France, China, Germany and Nigeria, meanwhile, were among the countries warning against any further escalations in the crisis on Monday.

"Now is the time to defuse and de-escalate," UN secretary general António Guterres said. "Now is the time for maximum restraint."

G7 leaders - the informal gathering of industrialised countries which includes the United States, United Kingdom and France - issued a statement on Sunday "unequivocally condemning in the strongest terms Iran’s direct and unprecedented attack against Israel", after the leaders met in a video conference hosted by the Italian presidency.

[Crazedwraith]

We bombed them and you should sanction them for responding! I hate this. Especially the amount of play that seems to be getting everywhere.

[Ralin]

But Downing Street later rejected Iran's assertion it gave advance warning of its drone and missile attack on Israel, as the prime minister's official spokesman revealed they were not briefed directly by Iran on their attacks.

I'm honestly not sure where they mean the Prime Minister of Israel or the UK here, but either way... So what? Why would they be expected to do that? Why would anyone even pretend they should have done that?

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Israel has said they are going to make a military response of some sort, for the sake of operational security they're not saying where or when.