Middle East latest: Netanyahu vows to 'increase pressure' on Hamas; Iran 'displayed power' in attack on Israel, Supreme Leader claims (2024)

Israel will "increase the political and military pressure on Hamas in the coming days", Benjamin Netanyahu has said.

Speaking before the Jewish holiday of Passover that starts tomorrow, the Israeli leader said all proposals for the release of hostages had been "outright rejected by Hamas".

"In the coming days we will increase the military and political pressure on Hamas because this is the only way to free our hostages and achieve our victory," he said.

He also responded to reports of imminent US sanctions on the IDF religious battalion Netzah Yehuda saying: "If anyone thinks they can impose sanctions on a unit in the IDF I will fight it with all my might."

The balance between the right to protest and the rights of everyone else had been completely lost, a charity that protects British Jews from antisemitism has said.

We have been reporting this weekend on a Met Police officer who was recorded preventing a Jewish man from crossing a road by a pro-Palestinian march because he is "openly Jewish".

The force has since apologised.

Responding to the incident in a statement on X, the Community Security Trust (CST) noted that since 7 October it had seen a "record increase in anti-Jewish hate crime against a backdrop of constant anti-Israel hate demonstrations".

It said CST was working with the police to protect the Jewish community but despite "all the good work" there had been "mistakes".

"This latest case fits that profile, with the context and detail lost in the heat of controversy. An individual officer tried to do the right thing but ended up making things worse in a very difficult moment," the charity said.

The broader question, the CST said, was "how much longer these costly and disruptive protests will be allowed to continue".

"It feels like any balance between the right to protest and the rights of everyone else had been completely lost, with extremists the only ones to benefit, Jews the first to suffer and the police often caught in the middle," it added.

The Israeli military says its soldiers shot two Palestinians who tried to attack them in the West Bank this morning.

We reported earlier today the IDF claimed two Palestinians tried to stab and shoot its soldiers near the city of Hebron (see our 9.13am post).

One was reported dead, but now the Palestinian health ministry says both have been killed.

TheIsraeli military said: "One of the terrorists attempted to stab IDF soldiers that were in the area, who responded with live fire and neutralised him."

The force added: "At the same time, the other terrorist opened fire at the soldiers, who responded with live fire and neutralised him too."

The official Palestinian news agency WAFA, quoting local sources, said ambulance crews were prevented from reaching the two men.

Palestinian security sources told WAFA the two men, aged 18 and 19, died and that they were still unable to collect their bodies.

A Tory peer has called for the Gaza conflict to end "immediately" as he criticised Israel for an alleged attack on Rafah that killed at least 22 people.

Israel has been carrying out air raids on the southern Gazan city almost daily, with the latest round reportedly killing 17 children of the same extended family overnight (see our 1.46pm post).

Lord Ahmad, a minister at the foreign office, said on X: "Appalled by the Israeli strike on a residential apartment in the densely populated Rafah in Gaza, which resulted in more children being killed.

"We must stop this fighting immediately and bring an end to this conflict."

It comes just one day after nine people were reportedly killed in another airstrike on the city, including six children, according to Palestinian authorities.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are seeking safety in Rafah, having fled attacks elsewhere in the Gaza Strip.

The IDF says it is unaware of any US sanctions against one of its battalions, after a report claimed Washington is planning such a step against a unit for alleged human rights violations in the West Bank (see our 8.14am post).

The military said that its Netzah Yehuda battalion - which is reportedly the target of potential sanctions - is an active combat unit that operates according to the "principles of international law".

"Following publications about sanctions against the battalion, the IDF is not aware of the issue," military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said.

"If a decision is made on the matter it will be reviewed.

"The IDF works and will continue to work to investigate any unusual event in a practical manner and according to law."

We reported this morning theBoard of Deputies of British Jews has called for an urgent meeting with Met Police chief Sir Mark Rowley, following an officer's handling of an antisemitism campaigner near a pro-Palestinian march (see our 10.14am post).

The group has now said it will meet with Sir Mark later this week, along with the Jewish Leadership Council and antisemitism charity CST.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism, whose chief executive Gideon Falter was the campaigner called "openly Jewish" by a police officer last weekend, has told Sky News it has not been invited to the meeting.

Mr Falter had earlier called for Sir Mark to resign, as did former home secretary Suella Braverman.

In a video of the incident, an officer appears to prevent Mr Falter from crossing the road and tells him: "You are quite openly Jewish.

"This is a pro-Palestinian march. I am not accusing you of anything, but I am worried about the reaction to your presence."

A government source said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is "appalled" at what happened.

The Met Police has apologised.

The number of people killed in Israeli strikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah overnight has risen to 22, Palestinian health officials say.

One of the strikes killed 17 children and two women of the same extended family, according to hospital records. Earlier, these records showed 13 children of the same family had died (see our 10.38am post).

First responders are still searching the rubble, The Associated Press reports.

Another strike killed a married couple and their three-year-old child, according to the nearby Kuwaiti Hospital, which says the woman was pregnant and doctors managed to save the baby.

Bymilitary analystSean Bell

In response to Iran's unprecedented attack a little over a week ago when Iran fired at least 331 missiles at Israel, Israel launched its own retaliatory strike on Friday.

Although neither side has commented on the effectiveness or otherwise of the Israeli response, it was evidently of a significantly smaller scale than the Iranian barrage.

However, more details are now emerging about the impact of the Israeli strikes, which provide an insight into their intended objectives.

Israel's interest in Iran's High Value Targets (HVTs)

The Isfahan airbase is located near some of Iran's nuclear development sites, where more than 3,000 scientists work on Iran's nuclear programme.

The base also forms a central core of Iran's military defensive capability.

Satellite imagery shows one of several air defence sites which include a central radar - at the centre of the facility - and a number of missile launchers facing towards the anticipated threat and protected within berms to avoid a strike against one destroying others.

Such missile sites protect High Value Targets (HVT), and their priority is to detect, track and target incoming threats.

Before Israel targeted a HVT it would need to degrade such defensive capability, and the immediate priority would be to take out the long-range radar - the eyes of the system - at the centre of the facility.

Israel would target Iran's defensive missiles

Satellite imagery appears to show that the Israelis successfully destroyed the radar during their most recent wave of precision strikes, withlarge scorch marks around the area, asseen in the New York Times.

With the radar destroyed, the Iranian missiles cannot find their target and are thus superfluous - later satellite imagery shows that the missiles were no longer in their berms and were probably hidden away to protect them from further strikes.

So why is this important?

Iran launched a massive wave of attacks against Israel a week ago, but with very limited effect.

In response, Israel was able to punch holes in critical Iranian air defence systems, thus demonstrating clearly that all Iran's HVTs are vulnerable to Israeli attack.

Although neither Israel nor Iran has publicised the impact of the Israelis strikes, the surgical nature of the Israeli attack demonstrated clearly Israel's military dominance.

A message that will not have been lost on its intended recipient - the Iranian political leadership.

New images taken on Sunday show the aftermath of the Israeli raid at Nur Shams, in the occupied West Bank.

We reported earlier that Palestinian authorities say at least 14 people have been killed in the raid, which began on Friday and continued into yesterday (see 7.53am post).

Israel's military said a number of militants were killed or arrested during the raid, with at least four soldiers wounded in exchanges of fire.

Israel is summoning ambassadors from six countries today after each voted in favour of recognising a Palestinian state at the UN earlier this week.

Japan, France, South Korea, Malta, Slovenia and Ecuador supported a motion at the UN Security Council on Thursday, but the US vetoed the move.

Spokesperson for Israel's foreign ministry Oren Marmorstein said their ambassadors to the country will receive a "strong protest" today.

"The unambiguous message that will be delivered to the ambassadors: A political gesture to the Palestinians and a call to recognise a Palestinian state - six months after the 7 October massacre - is a prize for terrorism," he said.

"Israel will not agree to the establishment of a terror state that will endanger its citizens."

He added those countries should instead focus on pressuring Hamas to release the remaining hostages taken during attacks on Israel on 7 October.

An "identical protest" will be made to other countries who supported the move, he said.

The UK and Switzerland abstained from voting in the 15-member council, while Russia, China, Algeria, Sierra Leone, Mozambique and Guyana also supported the motion.