Middle East latest: US says it will send THAAD defense battery to Israel, along with US troops
The U.S. is sending a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery to Israel, along with US troops to operate it. The Pentagon made the announcement just hours after Iran warned the U.S. to keep its military forces out of Israel.
Israel is widely believed to be preparing a military response to Iran’s Oct. 1 attack when it fired roughly 180 missiles into Israel.
Israel has been escalating its campaign against Hezbollah with waves of heavy airstrikes across Lebanon and a ground invasion at the border after a year of exchanges of fire. Israel is now at war with Hamas in Gaza and Hamas’ ally Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not say how many were fighters but say women and children make up more than half of the fatalities. The war has destroyed large areas of Gaza and displaced about 90% of its population of 2.3 million people.
It’s been a year since Hamas-led militants blew holes in Israel’s security fence and stormed into army bases and farming communities, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. They are still holding about 100 captives inside Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Here’s the latest:
U.S. will send complex defense system to Israel despite Iranian threat
The United States will send a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery and troops to Israel. The Pentagon made the announcement Sunday, shortly after Iran warned Washington to keep American military forces out of Israel.
Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin authorized the deployment of the THAAD battery at the direction of President Joe Biden.
Ryder said the air defense system will help bolster Israel’s air defenses following Iran’s missile attacks on Israel in April and October.
The THAAD is a defensive system that shoots down incoming ballistic missiles.
U.N. mission says Israeli tanks forcibly entered gates of one of its bases before leaving
The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon says Israeli tanks forcibly entered the gates of one of its bases in southern Lebanon and destroyed the main gate early Sunday. A UNIFIL statement calls it a “further flagrant violation of international law.” The tanks later left.
Israel has warned the U.N. force to evacuate its positions during its offensive in southern Lebanon against the Hezbollah militant group. International criticism is growing after Israeli strikes wounded five peacekeepers in recent days.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday expressed regret for wounding peacekeepers but accused the U.N. mission of providing a “human shield” for Hezbollah.
Israel has long accused the U.N. of being biased against it, and relations have worsened during the yearlong war in Gaza.
UNIFIL was created in 1978 to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops after Israel invaded and occupied south Lebanon.
Netanyahu says UN peacekeepers are serving as ‘human shields’ for Hezbollah
TEL AVIV, Israel — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon of serving as “human shields” for Hezbollah after Israeli strikes wounded five of them in recent days.
The Israeli military has warned UNIFIL to evacuate southern Lebanon as it carries out air and ground operations against Hezbollah militants, but the peacekeepers have so far refused.
Netanyahu said Sunday that their refusal to clear out “has the effect of providing Hezbollah terrorists with human shields,” saying they had become “hostages of Hezbollah.”
“We regret the injury to the UNIFIL soldiers and we are doing everything in our power to prevent this injury. But the simple and obvious way to ensure this is simply to get them out of the danger zone,” he said in a video addressed to the U.N. secretary-general, who has been banned from entering Israel.
The military has ordered the peacekeepers to move five kilometers (three miles) north, which would effectively keep them from doing their mission. They have already halted patrols because of air and ground attacks.
Israel has long accused the U.N. of being biased against it and relations have plunged further since the start of the war in Gaza. It has accused the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees of having been infiltrated by Hamas, allegations the agency denies.
Italian premier says UN peacekeeper security must be guaranteed
ROME — Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni has told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the security of U.N. forces in southern Lebanon must be “guaranteed at all times.”
In a phone conversation Sunday with Netanyahu, Meloni also stressed that UNIFIL “acts under a mandate from the Security Council to contribute to regional stability.” She reiterated “the absolute necessity that the security of UNIFIL personnel be guaranteed at all times.”
Netanyahu says Hezbollah uses U.N. peacekeepers as “human shields” after Israeli strikes wounded five of them in recent days.
The Italian premier also said she is convinced that, through the full implementation of U .N. Security Council Resolution 1701, “we can contribute to the stabilization of the Israeli-Lebanese border and ensure the return home of all displaced persons.”
Both Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers are deployed in southern Lebanon to enforce the resolution that ended a bloody monthlong 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.
Foreign ministers of Iraq, Iran warn Israel against sparking broader war
BAGHDAD — Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that the Middle East faces “dangerous challenges” as Tehran anticipates an Israeli strike.
“Iran does not seek war, but we are prepared for war,” Araghchi said at a news conference in Baghdad after meeting with his Iraqi counterpart.
Meanwhile, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein said Israel was forbidden from using Iraq’s airspace in any possible strike against Iran.
Baghdad’s top diplomat said an outbreak of regional war will create not only a global crisis but also fertile ground for the reemergence of extremist groups like the Islamic State.
“We are trying to keep the conflict away from the region and Iraq,” he said.
Iran’s foreign minister warns the US against sending forces to operate in Israel
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s foreign minister indirectly threatened U.S. forces potentially operating in Israel in an online post Sunday.
The comments came in a post on the social platform X long associated with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who helped reached Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
In the message, Araghchi referred to the United States potentially sending one of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense systems to Israel. Any move of one of the systems, known by the acronym THAAD, to Israel would involve the deployment of soldiers to operate the complex system.
“The US has been delivering record amount of arms to Israel,” the X message read. “It is now also putting lives of its troops at risk by deploying them to operate US missile systems in Israel.”
It added: “While we have made tremendous efforts in recent days to contain an all-out war in our region, I say it clearly that we have no red lines in defending our people and interests.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment over the remarks, which were carried by Iranian state media.
Israel is widely believed to be planning to attack Iran over its missile barrage on Israel earlier this month, its second direct attack on Israel during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war that’s widened to Lebanon and involved other Iranian-backed militant groups in the region.
The THAAD is a defensive system that shoots down incoming ballistic missiles, like those fired by Iran in its last attack.
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Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell contributed.
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VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis reiterated his call on Sunday for an “immediate ceasefire” in the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and asked for the U.N. peacekeepers to be “respected.”
“I continue to follow with concern what is happening in the Middle East,” the pontiff said during his Angelus prayer from the balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square.
“Let’s pursue the paths of diplomacy and dialogue to achieve peace,” he added, stressing he feels close to all the peoples involved: Palestine, Israel, Lebanon. He prayed for all the victims, the displaced, the hostages, saying he hoped they would be released “immediately.”
The pope wished “that this great and unnecessary suffering generated by hatred and revenge will soon come to an end.”