Middle East crisis live: Retaliation against Israel over killing of Hamas’s political leader a ‘right’, Iran president says

Iran rejects call for restraint from European leaders as ‘lacking political logic’

Iran’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that calls for restraint regarding Israel from France, Germany and the United Kingdom “lack political logic and contradict principles of international law”, Reuters reports.

French president Emmanuel Macron, German chancellor Olaf Scholz and British prime minister Keir Starmer issued a joint statement on Monday endorsing the latest push by mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States to broker an agreement to end the Israel-Hamas war.

The European leaders also called for the return of scores of hostages held by Hamas and the “unfettered” delivery of humanitarian aid, and asked that Iran and its allies to refrain from retaliation that would further escalate regional tensions after the late-July killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Iran’s president told Britain’s prime minister that Tehran considers retaliation against Israel over the July killing of Ismail Haniyeh a right, and a way to discourage future aggression.

A report by the official IRNA news agency said President Masoud Pezeshkian, in a late Monday phone conversation with Starmer, said that a punitive response to an aggressor is “a right of nations and a solution for stopping crimes and aggression.”

Key events

Iran considers retaliation against Israel over Haniyeh killing a ‘right’, president says

Iran’s president has said Tehran considers retaliation against Israel over the killing of Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh a “right” and a way to prevent future aggression in a call with Britain’s prime minister.

A Tuesday report by the official IRNA news agency said President Masoud Pezeshkian, in a late Monday phone conversation with prime minister Keir Starmer, said that a punitive response to an aggressor is “a right of nations and a solution for stopping crimes and aggression.”

Pezeshkian said that the West’s silence about “unprecedented inhumane crime” in Gaza and Israeli attacks elsewhere in the Middle East was “irresponsible” and encouraged Israel to put regional and global security at risk.

The report said the two leaders discussed ways for restoring peace and stability in the region and the world as well as improving bilateral relations, without elaborating.

Israel has not confirmed nor denied its role in the July killing of Haniyeh, but Israel earlier pledged to kill him and other Hamas leaders over the group’s 7 October attack on southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza. The assassination has sparked fears of a wider regional conflict and of a direct confrontation between Israel and Iran if Tehran retaliates.

Iran does not recognise Israel and supports anti-Israeli militant groups including Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

Here are some more comments from Iran’s foreign ministry, who earlier said calls for restraint regarding Israel from France, Germany and the United Kingdom “lack political logic and contradict principles of international law”,

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said: “Without any objection to the crimes of the Zionist regime (Israel), the E3 statement impudently requires Iran not to respond to a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Kanaani said Tehran was determined to deter Israel and called on Paris, Berlin and London to “once and for all stand up against the war in Gaza and the warmongering of Israel”.

“The inaction of the UN security council and the extensive political and military support of western governments to the Zionist regime (Israel) are the main factors behind the regional expansion of the Gaza crisis,” he said.

Israeli forces killed an 18-year-old Palestinian in dawn raids on Tuesday in the West Bank cities of Ramallah and Al-Bireh, hospital sources said, as violence in the Israeli occupied territory simmers, Reuters reports.

The Israeli military was not immediately able to confirm the information from the medics at the Ramallah-based Palestinian Medical Complex.

Violence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem was already on the rise before the war in Gaza erupted, but it has since escalated, with stepped-up Israeli military raids, settler violence and Palestinian street attacks.

Israeli forces have killed at least 620 Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since the start of the Gaza war, according to Palestinian health ministry figures.

Reuters reports that a ship’s captain reported being attacked by an uncrewed surface vessel (USV) which was successfully disabled about 63 nautical miles (116 km) southwest of Yemen’s Hodeidah, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said on Tuesday.

The vessel also reported two explosions in its close proximity, UKMTO and British maritime security firm Ambrey said.

Iran-aligned Houthi militants have launched attacks on international shipping near Yemen since last November in solidarity with Palestinians.

On Tuesday, UKMTO added that a separate ship located 97 nautical miles (179 km) northwest of Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah reported an explosion in its vicinity.

The vessels and crew involved in both incidents are safe and proceeding to their next port of call.

The Houthi attacks have drawn US and British retaliatory strikes and disrupted global trade as shipowners reroute vessels away from the Red Sea and Suez Canal to sail the longer route around the southern tip of Africa.

Iran rejects call for restraint from European leaders as ‘lacking political logic’

Iran’s president told Britain’s prime minister that Tehran considers retaliation against Israel over the July killing of Ismail Haniyeh a right, and a way to discourage future aggression.

Iran attack on Israel ‘could be this week’ says US

Hello and welcome to today’s blog.

An attack from Iran or its proxies on Israel could be “this week”, according to the White House, mirroring statements from the Israeli government which said a strike was increasingly likely.

“We have to be prepared for what could be a significant set of attacks,” White House national security adviser John Kirby said on Monday, adding “which is why we have increased our force posture and capabilities in the region even in just the last few days.”

The US on Sunday announced it had ordered the deployment of the USS Georgia, a nuclear-powered, guided-missile submarine, to the Middle East, amid mounting concern over the determination by Iran and its proxies to retaliate for the assassination of Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran.

It comes as the UK, France and Germany said there must be “no further delay” in agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza and called on Iran and its allies to refrain from attacks against Israel that would further escalate tensions. In a joint statement released on Monday, they endorsed the latest push by the US, Qatar and Egypt to broker an agreement to end the 10-month-old war.

Here’s a summary of the day’s other main news.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu exchanged words with his defence minister on Monday, underscoring the deep internal splits that continue to plague the government as the war in Gaza risks spilling out into a wider regional conflict.
Following Israeli media reports quoting Yoav Gallant dismissing Netanyahu’s war aim of total victory against Hamas as “nonsense”, Netanyahu’s office put out a statement rebuking Gallant. “When Gallant adopts the anti-Israel narrative, he harms the chances of reaching a hostage deal,” the statement said.
The armed wing of Hamas has said its militants shot and killed an Israeli hostage and wounded two others, both women, “in two separate incidents” in Gaza. Abu Obeida, spokesperson for the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, said in a statement: “In two separate incidents, two [Hamas] soldiers assigned to guard enemy prisoners fired at a Zionist prisoner, killing him immediately, and also injured two female prisoners critically.” The statement, posted on Telegram, did not identify the hostages or say when or where the incidents occurred.
Gaza officials told AFP on Monday that they had identified 75 bodies of Palestinians killed in a weekend strike by Israel on a school building where rescuers reported at least 93 dead. The Israeli military claimed that Saturday’s pre-dawn strike on the Al-Tabieen religious school compound in Gaza City killed at least 19 Palestinian militants who were allegedly using it as a base.
Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, has said the bloc should consider sanctions in response to calls by Israel’s far-right national security minister to cut off aid to Gaza, calling them an “incitement to war crimes”. Writing on the X platform late on Sunday, EU foreign policy chief Borrell said the recent remarks by Itamar Ben-Gvir constitute “incitement to war crimes,” adding that “sanctions must be on our EU agenda.”
142 people have been killed and 150 others have been injured by Israeli strikes in Gaza in the past 48 hours, the Palestinian health ministry has said, as the overall death toll from the war nears 40,000. On Monday, the health ministry said 39,897 Palestinians have been killed and 92,152 have been injured in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since 7 October.