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Israel’s war cabinet is holding its fifth meeting on response to Iranian attack
From CNN’s Benjamin Brown
Israel’s war cabinet is convening Tuesday to discuss its response to Iran’s drone and missile attack, an Israeli official told CNN.
The meeting, which began 12:30 p.m. local time (5:30 a.m. ET), is the fifth set of talks held by the war cabinet since Sunday.
Tehran launched a series of strikes on Israel over the weekend, in response to a suspected Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, earlier this month.
The weekend's unprecedented attack from Iran was the first time it has ever fired directly at Israel from its soil, as regional tensions flare over Israel's military offensive in Gaza.
Iran’s president warns of a severe and painful response if its "interests" are targeted
From CNN’s Adam Pourahmadi and Mostafa Salem
President Ebrahim Raisi has warned that the “smallest action against Iran’s interests” will be met with a “severe, extensive and painful” response.
In a call with Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Monday, the president said that Iran's attack on Israel this weekend was an act of “legitimate defense.”
“As we have already officially announced the operation of the 'Honest Promise' was successfully carried out with the aim of punishing the aggressor. Now we firmly declare that the smallest action against Iran's interests will definitely be met with a severe, extensive and painful response against all its perpetrators,” Raisi said.
"Honest Promise" was the name given to Iran’s unprecedented attack, which saw drones and missiles launched at Israel over a five-hour period — almost entirely intercepted by the Israeli military and its allies. Israel hasvowedto respond and is weighing its options to do so.
In the call, Qatar “stressed the need to reduce all forms of escalation and avoid expanding the conflict in the region,” according to a statement run by state news agency Sheikh Tamim.
Israeli artist at Venice Biennale says she won’t open exhibit until hostage and ceasefire deal reached
From CNN’s Benjamin Brown in London
Artist Ruth Patir, Israel’s representative at the Venice Biennalein Italy, has said she won’t open her exhibit until a hostage and ceasefire deal has been reached.
She said the Israeli pavilion at the international cultural exhibition “will only open when the release of hostages and ceasefire agreement happens” in a statement shared on Instagram on Tuesday.
Patir said she would raise her voice “with those I stand with in their scream, ceasefire now, bring the people back from captivity. We can’t take it anymore.”
A petition signed by more than 23,000 people recently called for Israel to be excluded from the Venice Biennale.
Patir on Tuesday said that she and commissioners Mira Lapidot and Tamar Margalit had made headlines in recent weeks rather than the art and the exhibition titled "(M)otherland."
“If I am given such a remarkable stage, I want to make it count,” Patir said, adding that she “firmly objected” to cultural boycotts but chose to take action as she felt there was “no right answer.”
Protests against Israel's war in Gaza have taken place at various cultural events, including this year's Oscars and the Grammy's.
Analysis: Israel faces dilemma in response to Iran’s attack
Analysis byCNN's Nadeen EbrahimandJeremy Diamond
Israel has yet to agree on how to respond to theIranian attack that sawmore than 300 projectilesfired at its territory in the first direct military confrontation between the Islamic Republic and the Jewish state.
Israel must balance international pressure to show restraint on the one hand while searching for an appropriate response to an unprecedented attack.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu now has to weigh his right-wing coalition’s call for a strong reaction against the risk of further international isolation for Israel bywidening the war withoutinternational support.
Despite pressure from allies not to escalate, Israel’s war cabinet is now debating the timing and scope of the response, two Israeli officials familiar with the deliberations told CNN.
Analysts say that Israel has few options, and each of those options comes with a price, especially as it is already embroiled in a brutal six-month war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip and is confronting various Iran-backed militants in the region.
A direct attack on Iran would set yet another precedent. While Israel is believed to have conducted covert operations in Iran over the years, often targeting individuals or facilities seen as a threat to its security, it has never launched a direct military assault on Iranian territory.
“We are definitely in a new phase, and a very dangerous phase of the Israeli-Iranian confrontation,” said Raz Zimmt, an Iran expert at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv. “Iran has certainly tried to change the rules of the game with Israel… We might expect more rounds of direct attacks in the future.”
Read the full analysis.
US Defense Secretary and Israeli counterpart discuss aftermath of Iran attack
From CNN's Colin McCullough
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke to his Israeli counterpart Monday and “reaffirmed the strategic goal of regional stability,” according to a readout of the call.
AustinandIsraeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallantdiscussed the aftermath of Iran’sunprecedented attack on Israel over the weekend, the readout said.
The secretaryalso reiterated “steadfast” US support for Israel’s defense.
Some context: Israel's war cabinet is weighing a response toIran's attack, which sawmore than 300 projectilesfired at its territory — most of which were intercepted.
Austin previously asked Gallant to notify the US ahead of any potential response to the Iranian attack, according to a US official.
The two had spoken hours after Iran had launched a barrage of drones and missiles at Israel.
It's morning in the Middle East. Catch up here
From CNN Staff
Israel was set to take its first steps toward aground offensive in Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah this week but has delayed those plans as it mulls a response to Iran’s unprecedented aerial attacks over the weekend, two Israeli sources have told CNN.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long stressed the importance of invading Rafah to dismantle Hamas’s remaining battalions, despite international pressure to call off an all-out ground offensive.
But a military response to Iran could pull Israel's attention and resources away from Gaza.
Here are the latest developments in the region:
- Israel weighs response to Iran: The Israeli war cabinet has reviewed military plans for a potential response to Iran's attacks, an official said. The cabinet also reviewed diplomatic options, which could be carried out in addition to a military response. It is not clear if a decision has been made.
- White House urges de-escalation: US President Joe Biden is focusing on preventing Iran's attack from spiraling into a wider regional conflict, spokesperson John Kirby said.
- China's reaction: China saidit notedIran’sstatement that the actions againstIsraelwerean “exercise of the right of self-defense” during a phone call between the foreign ministers of the two nations, and did not condemn the weekend strikes.
- Al-Shifa aftermath: Fifteen more bodies were recovered from around Al-Shifa Hospital following the withdrawal of the Israeli military from the area two weeks ago, Gaza residents and medical crews told CNN.
- Hostage talks: Hamas has slashed the number of hostages it is willing to release during the first phase of a ceasefire deal by more than half, an Israeli source said. This represents a significant step backward in the talks.
Hamas slashes number of hostages it is willing to release in ceasefire deal, Israeli source says
From CNN’s Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv
Hamas has slashed the number of hostages it is willing to release during the first phase of a proposed ceasefire deal by more than half, an Israeli source close to the negotiations said.
In its latest counterproposal, Hamas offered to release fewer than 20 hostages in exchange for a six-week ceasefire, more than halving the number of 40 hostages that has been the basis of negotiations for months — a significant step backward in the talks.
A senior Biden administration official confirmed that Hamas is focused on those 20 for the first phase of a potential deal. The official also confirmed Hamas is telling mediators that it only has around 20 remaining hostages who are women or sick, wounded and elderly men.
Hamas also called for the release of more Palestinian prisoners in exchange for fewer hostages, the source said, as well as a higher number of prisoners serving life sentences.
The Israeli source said the latest Hamas counterproposal signals that Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader in Gaza, does not want a deal, seeking to exploit fissures between the US and Israel over Israeli military operations in Gaza and domestic pressure on the Israeli government.
Hamas spokesperson Basem Naim said the group had proposed “releasing (three) captured Israelis each week,” but said “no one is talking about final numbers.”
Beyond the ratio of Palestinian prisoners, Hamas is continuing to demand assurances about a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, and unrestricted access for Palestinians to return to northern Gaza.
“I think part of this is Hamas thinks they're winning. Because their definition of success is survival and they've survived so far,” the Biden official said. “The longer the conflict has gone on the more recalcitrant Hamas has become rather than the other way around.”
China notes Iran's position on Israel attack and does not condemn strikes
From CNN’s Manveena Suri, Simone McCarthy and Wayne Chang
China saidit notedIran’sstatement that the actions againstIsraelwerean “exercise of the right of self-defense” during a phone call between the foreign ministers of the two nations on Monday, and did not condemn the weekend strikes.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian that China condemned the attack on a consulate building in the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus, according to a statement issued by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Chinese foreign minister added the incident “seriously violates international law and is unacceptable.”
“China has noted Iran's statement that the actions it took were limited and it was an exercise of the right of self-defense in response to the attack on the embassy building,” the statement said.
“The current regional situation is very sensitive, and Iran is willing to exercise restraint and has no intention of further escalating the situation,” the statement added, quoting Amir-Abdollahian.
Separately, China’s Special Envoy on the Middle East, Zhai Jun, met with Irit Ben-Abba Vitale, Israel’s Ambassador to China, on Monday, in which the latter expressed Israel's position and concerns on the conflict in Gaza.
Zhai said China was “deeply concerned about the current escalation of regional tensions, and conflicts and bloodshed serve the interests of no one.”
15 more bodies recovered from around Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital as exhumation process continues
From CNN's Kareem KhadderandZeena Saifi
Fifteen more bodies were recovered on Monday from around Al-Shifa Hospital following the withdrawal of the Israeli military from the area two weeks ago, Gaza residents and medical crews told CNN.
Health workers and residents in northern Gaza have been searching and digging for what they believe are mass graves and looking for their loved ones, after they said Israeli forces killed hundreds of Palestinians and left their bodies to decompose during their two-week siege of the complex.
“We were called today to extract the bodies that are buried inside Al-Shifa medical complex. We came here at 9 a.m. with an excavator and excavated 15 bodies,” Adel Al-Mash-Harawi, an ambulance driver from Gaza told CNN from the site of the excavation.
Hundreds of bodies have been recovered from areas around the hospital complex since the siege ended on April 1, a Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson told CNN last week.
Video filmed by CNN Monday shows medical workers, some wearing UN-marked vests, walking around the site over mounds of sand, digging up bodies. White body bags can be seen lying on the side of the excavation site, some marked with text reading “unidentified body” and some with names of people on them.
CNN has contacted the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment on these allegations but has not received a response.
