United States President Joe Biden has cautioned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against attacking Iran’s oil fields and nuclear facilities in response to Tehran’s recent missile attack on Israel, Bloomberg reported on Saturday.
“The Israelis have not concluded what they’re going to do in terms of a strike,” Biden said to reporters at the White House on Friday. “If I were in their shoes, I’d be thinking about other alternatives than striking oil fields.”
Biden has also warned Israel against attacking Iran’s nuclear sites, reported Reuters.
On Tuesday, Iran launched at least 180 missiles into Israel, raising fears of an all-out war in West Asia. This came in retaliation for the killings of senior members of the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah, Palestinian militant group Hamas and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon.
Hamas and Hezbollah are backed by Iran.
Media reports have suggested that Tel Aviv is contemplating targeting Iranian oil rigs and nuclear sites.
An Israeli attack on major oil infrastructure in Iran would aggravate geopolitical tensions and disrupt energy markets, particularly affecting supply to China, reported Bloomberg.
Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump criticised Biden’s comments, saying he was in favour of an attack specifically targeting Iranian nuclear sites.
“I think he got that one wrong,” Trump said. “The answer should have been hit the nuclear first, we’ll worry about the rest of it later.”
Israel on Saturday intensified its bombardment of Lebanon, striking a Palestinian refugee camp, reported AP. The attack on the Beddawi camp killed a Hamas military official, his wife and two daughters. Another Hamas member was killed in strikes in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.
Explosions were felt in southern Beirut’s Dahiyeh on Saturday night after Israel urged residents to evacuate.
Israel’s military said it was targeting Hezbollah and Hamas fighters. It also claimed that approximately 30 projectiles originating in Lebanon had crossed over into Israeli territory on Saturday, with some being intercepted.
Soon after, Hezbollah announced that it had successfully targeted a group of Israeli soldiers near the Manara settlement in northern Israel “with a large rocket salvo, hitting them accurately”.
At least 1,400 Lebanese, including civilians, medics and Hezbollah fighters, have been killed and 1.2 million displaced in less than two weeks. At least 375,000 people including Palestinian refugees have fled to Syria from the country in the past two weeks, according to AP.
On Sunday, an Israeli attack on a mosque in central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah killed 21 people, reported Reuters. The mosque was being used to shelter displaced Palestinians.
The Israeli military said it had “conducted a precise strike on Hamas terrorists who were operating within a command and control centre” at the mosque.
The attack came a day before the first anniversary of Israel’s war on the Palestinian enclave.
Hamas combatants had invaded Israel on October 7 last year, killing 1,200 persons and taking over 200 hostages. Israel has since been carrying out unprecedented air and ground strikes in Gaza, killing more than 40,000 persons including 16,500 children.
Since September 23, Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon have resulted in over 1,000 deaths, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Also read: Ramachandra Guha: Indians must hold our government to account for aiding Israel’s murderous Gaza war
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