New Delhi:

In a direct address to the people of Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a clear and forceful message on Monday. The Israeli leader’s speech, delivered in English and subtitled in Persian, conveyed both a warning to the Iranian regime and an assurance to its citizens. The message comes amidst Israel’s escalating actions against Iranian-backed groups in the Middle East.

Netanyahu condemned Iran’s leadership for allegedly prioritising regional conflicts over its own people’s welfare. “Every day, you see a regime that subjugates you make fiery speeches about defending Lebanon, defending Gaza,” Netanyahu said, adding that the Iranian government was “plunging the region deeper into darkness and deeper into war.”

Referring to Iran’s support for Hezbollah and Hamas, groups that have been engaged in violent conflicts with Israel, Netanyahu said that Iran’s proxies were being systematically targeted. “Iran’s puppets are being eliminated,” he said. adding that there was “nowhere we will not go to protect our people.”

“With every passing moment, the regime is bringing you – the noble Persian people – closer to the abyss,” he said. “The vast majority of Iranians know their regime doesn’t care a whit about them. If it did care, if it cared about you, it would stop wasting billions of dollars on futile wars across the Middle East. It would start improving your lives.

“Imagine if all the vast money the regime wasted on nuclear weapons and foreign wars were invested in your children’s education, in improving your health care, in building your nation’s infrastructure, water, sewage, all the other things that you need. Imagine that.”

Netanyahu predicted a future where Iran is free from theocratic rule, envisioning a new era of peace between Israel and Iran. He expressed confidence that change would come “a lot sooner than people think.” According to Netanyahu, a post-regime Iran would enjoy prosperity through global investments, tourism, and technological advancements. 

“When Iran is finally free – and that moment will come a lot sooner than people think – everything will be different,” he said. “Our two ancient peoples, the Jewish people and the Persian people, will finally be at peace. Our two countries, Israel and Iran, will be at peace.

“When that day comes, the terror network that the regime built in five continents will be bankrupt, dismantled. Iran will thrive as never before: Global investment; massive tourism; brilliant technological innovation based on the tremendous talents that exist inside Iran. Doesn’t that sound better than endless poverty, repression and war?”

This direct message comes in the wake of Israel’s intensified operations against Iranian proxies. Days before Netanyahu’s statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) executed a major airstrike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah at the group’s headquarters in Beirut. The strike also reportedly took the life of a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) official. Nasrallah’s death has been met with celebration by anti-regime Iranians worldwide.

“You deserve better. Your children deserve better. The entire world deserves better. I know you don’t support the rapists and murderers of Hamas and Hezbollah, but your leaders do. You deserve more. The people of Iran should know – Israel stands with you. May we together know a future of prosperity and peace,” Netanyahu added. 

Following Nasrallah’s assassination, reports surfaced that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was moved to a secure location amid fears of further Israeli action.

The tension between Israel and Iran reached new heights earlier this year when Iran launched over 300 missiles and drones at Israel in retaliation for an alleged Israeli strike in Syria that killed several high-ranking IRGC officers. The vast majority of those missiles were intercepted by Israeli defence systems, with the support of a US-led coalition. Israel responded to Iran’s actions with a limited drone strike targeting a nuclear research centre in Isfahan.

Nasrallah’s assassination also came amid Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, which has seen frequent cross-border attacks against Israel, allegedly in solidarity with Hamas during its ongoing war with Israel in Gaza. Israel has steadily escalated its strikes on Hezbollah targets, leading to significant losses within the group’s leadership. Earlier in the month, mysterious explosions attributed to Israel destroyed Hezbollah’s communication devices, injuring thousands and intensifying the ongoing conflict.
 

New Delhi:
Hezbollah on Saturday launched a series of rocket attacks from Lebanon into northern Israel, marking one of the most intense cross-border confrontations since the war began in October.

Here are 10 points on this big story:

Washington:

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Sunday slammed Islamic countries for not opening up their gates for civilians from Gaza who are seeking to flee their homes in the face of an imminent ground invasion by Israel. She also hit out at former US president Barack Obama and Joe Biden, the incumbent, over the Iranian nuclear deal and accused Tehran of strengthening Hamas and Hezbollah.

“We should care about the Palestinian citizens, especially the innocent ones because they didn’t ask for this. But where are the Arab countries? Where are they? Where is Qatar? Where is Lebanon? Where is Jordan? Where is Egypt? Do you know we give Egypt over a billion dollars a year? Why aren’t they opening the gates? Why aren’t they taking the Palestinians?” Haley told CNN in an interview.

“You know why? Because they know they can’t vet them, and they don’t want Hamas in their neighbourhood. So why would Israel want them in their neighbourhood? So let’s be honest with what’s going on. The Arab countries aren’t doing anything to help the Palestinians because they don’t trust who is right, who is good, who is evil, and they don’t want it in their country,” she said.

Haley anticipated that these Islamic countries would blame America.

“They’re going to come and blame America. They’re going to come and blame Israel. And don’t fall for it, because they have the ability to fix all of this if they wanted to. They have the ability to go in and tell Hamas right now to stop what they’re doing. They have the ability to tell Hamas to let those people out,” Haley said.

“But you know what? Qatar is going to continue to work with Hamas and their leadership. Iran is going to continue to fund all of this and not say anything. And who’s silent? Every one of those Arab countries are going to be silent. But expect for the finger to point to Israel, and the finger is going to point to America,” she said.

Haley said Hamas is going to do everything they can to not have them leave, because “they want them all to die”. “One, they want to use them as human shields, but, two, they want to blame Israel and show images of dead children and say, look at what Israel did,” she alleged.

“But don’t ever forget what Hamas did. Don’t ever forget those girls running for their life. Don’t ever forget those babies that were killed in cribs. Don’t ever forget the people that they were dragging through the streets. And what were they saying, Jake? They were saying, “Death to Israel, death to America,” she said.

“That’s who we’re dealing with. But I dealt with this at the United Nations. You’re going to hear all of those Arab countries vilify Israel for what’s about to happen. You’re going to hear all of them say, how dare you not do more for the Palestinian people?” said Haley, a former US ambassador to the UN.

She said right now, they cannot take their eyes off of the terrorists. “I mean, what Hamas did was beyond thuggish, brutal, and sick. What the Iranian regime is doing to help them is terrible. But let’s look back at, what did Biden do? Biden turned around and fell all over himself to get into the Iran deal. Obama did it before that,” she said.

“You gave all of this money. And what did you do? You empowered Iran to go and strengthen Hamas, strengthen Hezbollah, strengthen the Houthis to spread their terrorist activity. We went and strengthened those sanctions and decimated Iran’s economy. And what happened? Biden has loosened the sanctions,” she said.

Palestinian group Hamas carried out a barrage of air strikes in Southern Israel last week. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in response launched multiple attacks targeting Hamas’ key infrastructure. So far, thousands of people have been killed in Israel and the Gaza Strip in the biggest escalation in decades between the two sides.

“Now we have got the fact that he gave USD6 billion in hostage money. OK, now you have frozen it, but we have all these American hostages. Guess what they’re going to want? If you gave them USD 6 billion for five people and released hostages, guess what they’re going to be asking for all these others that we have?” Halley said.

“We have created this scenario where you have given Iran — the Iranian regime too much power and too much pull and to be able to do this. We have got to be strong. We have got to have Israel’s back. And, remember, as awful as these images are, and we have the back of Israel because they have been hit terribly, we have to have the back of them when they hit back as well,” Haley said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Appreciating the support of India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Israeli Ambassador to India, Naor Gilon metaphorically stated that so many Indians volunteered to assist Israel that they could almost form another unit of the Israel Defence Force (IDF). He also lauded PM Modi for being one of the first global leaders to give a ‘clear condemnation’ of the terror attack.

Speaking to ANI about the support from India, Naor Gilon said, “For me, it’s the point of optimism. It’s very emotional. The level of support that we got, from the Prime Minister, on the same day on Saturday when the whole picture was not clear. Among the first leaders, who came out and tweeted very clear condemnation. We will never forget that”.

“This is very very important. After speaking with PM Netanyahu, Modiji had another strong tweet. I got calls from Minister… who said ‘We are with you’. High officials here, big businessmen here… offering any kind of help,” he added.

The Israeli envoy further expressed his gratitude for the support from the Indian people, emphasizing that India-Israel relations are very “deep and emotional”.

“This is only part of the picture, regular Indians. Look at the social media of the embassy. It’s amazing, I think I could have another IDF with the volunteers. Everyone is telling me, I want to volunteer, I want to fight for Israel,” he said.

He added, “I served in many countries in the world, many friendly countries. This wide support, strong support is unprecedented for me. I am really moved and touched. The closeness between Israel and India is something I cannot even explain…it’s very emotional, very deep…it is something very unique”.

Amid the onslaught by Israeli forces on Gaza following Hamas attacks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday called Prime Minister Narendra Modi and provided him with an update about the ongoing situation.

PM Modi said in a post on X that the people of India stand firmly with Israel in this difficult hour.

“I thank Prime Minister @netanyahu for his phone call and providing an update on the ongoing situation. The people of India stand firmly with Israel in this difficult hour. India strongly and unequivocally condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” he said.

On October 7, expressing solidarity with Israel in the wake of the deadly rocket strikes by Hamas, Prime Minister Modi said that the thoughts of people were with the innocent victims and their families.

“Deeply shocked by the news of terrorist attacks in Israel. Our thoughts and prayers are with the innocent victims and their families. We stand in solidarity with Israel at this difficult hour,” PM Modi posted on X.

The death count in Israel since the Hamas attack on October 7 has jumped to 1,300 and some 3300 have been injured, including 28 in critical condition and 350 in serious condition, The Times of Israel reported citing Hebrew media reports.

The fate of an estimated 150 people abducted and taken to the Gaza Strip during the attack by Hamas is still unclear, the report said.

Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the military has so far notified families of 97 hostages who were being held by terrorists in the Gaza Strip, The Times of Israel reported.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Appreciating the support of India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Israeli Ambassador to India, Naor Gilon metaphorically stated that so many Indians volunteered to assist Israel that they could almost form another unit of the Israel Defence Force (IDF). He also lauded PM Modi for being one of the first global leaders to give a ‘clear condemnation’ of the terror attack.

Speaking to ANI about the support from India, Naor Gilon said, “For me, it’s the point of optimism. It’s very emotional. The level of support that we got, from the Prime Minister, on the same day on Saturday when the whole picture was not clear. Among the first leaders, who came out and tweeted very clear condemnation. We will never forget that”.

“This is very very important. After speaking with PM Netanyahu, Modiji had another strong tweet. I got calls from Minister… who said ‘We are with you’. High officials here, big businessmen here… offering any kind of help,” he added.

The Israeli envoy further expressed his gratitude for the support from the Indian people, emphasizing that India-Israel relations are very “deep and emotional”.

“This is only part of the picture, regular Indians. Look at the social media of the embassy. It’s amazing, I think I could have another IDF with the volunteers. Everyone is telling me, I want to volunteer, I want to fight for Israel,” he said.

He added, “I served in many countries in the world, many friendly countries. This wide support, strong support is unprecedented for me. I am really moved and touched. The closeness between Israel and India is something I cannot even explain…it’s very emotional, very deep…it is something very unique”.

Amid the onslaught by Israeli forces on Gaza following Hamas attacks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday called Prime Minister Narendra Modi and provided him with an update about the ongoing situation.

PM Modi said in a post on X that the people of India stand firmly with Israel in this difficult hour.

“I thank Prime Minister @netanyahu for his phone call and providing an update on the ongoing situation. The people of India stand firmly with Israel in this difficult hour. India strongly and unequivocally condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” he said.

On October 7, expressing solidarity with Israel in the wake of the deadly rocket strikes by Hamas, Prime Minister Modi said that the thoughts of people were with the innocent victims and their families.

“Deeply shocked by the news of terrorist attacks in Israel. Our thoughts and prayers are with the innocent victims and their families. We stand in solidarity with Israel at this difficult hour,” PM Modi posted on X.

The death count in Israel since the Hamas attack on October 7 has jumped to 1,300 and some 3300 have been injured, including 28 in critical condition and 350 in serious condition, The Times of Israel reported citing Hebrew media reports.

The fate of an estimated 150 people abducted and taken to the Gaza Strip during the attack by Hamas is still unclear, the report said.

Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the military has so far notified families of 97 hostages who were being held by terrorists in the Gaza Strip, The Times of Israel reported.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)