Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Israel’s attack “should neither be exaggerated nor minimized.”
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Saturday morning’s Israeli strikes on Iran “should neither be exaggerated nor minimized”while refraining from calling for retaliation, suggesting that Iran is carefully evaluating its response to the attack.
Israeli warplanes attacked military targets in Iran on Saturday in response to an Iranian ballistic missile attack earlier this month.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Sunday that the strikes had “severely damaged” Iran and achieved all of Israel’s goals.
“The air force struck across Iran. We have seriously damaged Iran’s defense capabilities and its ability to produce missiles aimed at us”Benjamin Netanyahu said in his first public statements on the strikes.
Satellite images showed damage to two secret Iranian military bases, one linked to nuclear weapons work that Western intelligence agencies and nuclear inspectors say they halted in 2003 and the other linked to the ballistic missile program from Iran.
Trump and Harris reacted to the situation
Former US President Donald Trump and his opponent in the presidential race, current Vice President Kamala Harris, briefly reacted to the attack at their respective rallies.
“Israel attacks – we are at war and she is celebrating” Donald Trump said at a rally in Michigan, while Kamala Harris hosted an event with Beyoncé in Texas.
For her part, Kamala Harris called for a “de-escalation and not an escalation of activities in this region“.
“I am convinced, and the United States is convinced, that Iran must end the threat it poses to the region, and we will always defend Israel against any attack by Iran along these lines.”she told reporters in Michigan.
The northern Gaza Strip relentlessly bombarded by the Israeli army
Israeli strikes on the northern Gaza Strip have killed at least 22 people, mainly women and children, according to Palestinian officials, as the Israeli offensive in the hard-hit and isolated north of the country enters its third week and aid groups describe a humanitarian catastrophe.
The Gaza Health Ministry’s emergency service said 11 women and two children were among 22 people killed in strikes on several houses and buildings in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya. He added that 15 other people had been injured and that the death toll could rise. She listed the names of those killed, most of whom belonged to three families.
The Israeli military said it carried out a precise strike on militants installed in a structure in Beit Lahiya and took measures to avoid harming civilians. She took issue with what she called “figures published by the media“, without giving more details or providing proof of his statements.
Since October 6, Israel has been carrying out a vast air and ground offensive in the northern Gaza Strip, claiming that Hamas militants have regrouped there. Hundreds of people have been killed and tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled to Gaza City in the latest wave of displacement in the year-long war.
Catastrophic humanitarian situation
Humanitarian organizations have warned of a catastrophic situation in the northern Gaza Strip, which was the first target of Israel’s ground offensive and has already suffered the most extensive destruction of the war. In recent weeks, Israel has severely limited access to basic humanitarian aid, and the three remaining hospitals in the north – one of which was attacked over the weekend – say they have been overwhelmed by waves of wounded.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said Saturday that Israeli evacuation orders and restrictions on the entry of essential supplies into the north had left the civilian population in dire situations. “horrible circumstances”.
“Many civilians are currently unable to move, trapped by fighting, destruction or physical constraints, and do not even have access to basic medical care”declared the International Committee of the Red Cross.