Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Israel will hit anyone who intends to harm the country, appearing to indirectly refer to a predawn missile strike on an air base in central Syria that reportedly killed 14 people, which has been blamed on Israel.
Israel refused to comment directly on the attack, after Russia and Syria blamed the Jewish state. NBC News quoted two US officials as saying that Israel had carried out the strike, adding that Washington was informed in advance.
Netanyahu, was the southern town of Sderot during the signing of am agreement on a housing project. Sderot is a frequent target of rockets from nearby Gaza.
“The first thing that is happening here may be summarized in one word – security: Security for Sderot, security for the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip, security for the Negev, security for Israel, security in the future,” Netanyahu said.
“We have one clear and simple rule and we seek to express it constantly: if someone tries to attack you – rise up and attack him. We will not allow, here on the Gaza border, them to hurt us. We will hurt them,” he said.
“Security in the present is a necessary condition for security in the future and what we have here today is a powerful expression for our future security,” Netanyahu said, apparently referring to the dual threats Israel faces in the north and in the south.
Earlier Monday Israeli planes carried out airstrikes in the northern Gaza Strip, the army said, hours after a group of Palestinians entered Israeli territory from the enclave and planted two improvised explosive devices along the Gaza security fence.
Israel was also accused of carrying out strikes beyond its northern border.
In a rare move, Russia accused Israel earlier Monday of carrying out the strike, as did dictator Bashar Assad’s regime.
“This is a very dangerous development. I hope at least that the US military and those of the countries participating in the coalition led by the United States understand that,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a press conference Monday.
Trump: ‘Major decisions’ coming on Syria in ’24-48 hours’
WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump says Monday that “major decisions” would be made on a Syria response in the next day or two, after warning that Damascus would have a “big price to pay” over an alleged chemical attack on a rebel-held town.
Trump condemns what he calls a “heinous attack on innocent” Syrians in Douma, as he opens a cabinet meeting at the White House.
The suspected gas attack left dozens dead, according to rescuers and medics. Syria and its ally Russia have denied any use of chemical weapons.
“This is about humanity — it can’t be allowed to happen,” Trump says, adding that decisions would come in the “next 24-48 hours.”
Syria: Israel only able to carry out strike due to ‘unlimited support’ of US
Syria says Israel was only able to carry out an airstrike on a central Syrian air base because of the “unlimited support of the American administration.”
Syria has blamed Israel for a missile attack on a central air base early Monday that reportedly killed 14 people, including four Iranians. Israel typically does not comment on its operations in Syria, where it has carried out more than 100 strikes since 2012, mainly targeting weapons convoys.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry says in a letter sent to the United Nations on Monday that Israel is “practicing state terrorism and threatens security and peace in the region and the world.”
The ministry says Syria will not hesitate to “practice its right to defend its land, people and sovereignty by all means that are in accordance with the UN charter.”
It says the airstrike on the T4 air base was conducted by Israeli warplanes flying over the airspace of neighboring Lebanon. The ministry says the attack left a number of Syrian citizens dead or wounded.
Turkey condemns Israel over Gaza border clashes
Turkey condemns Israel over recent actions of its military defending the country’s border with Gaza.
“We wish Allah’s mercy upon those who lost their lives and speedy recovery to the wounded in the attacks,” the Turkish foreign ministry says in a statement.
“We expect that international community to take a joint stance against Israel which, despite repeated warnings, tramples international law in an aggressive manner and does not even hesitate to target journalists in the line of duty,” it adds, referring to a Palestinian journalist killed during clashes Friday.
Mattis won’t rule out retaliatory strikes over suspected Syria gas attack
WASHINGTON — US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Monday points toward Russia’s role in a suspected poison gas attack in Syria, and says he will not rule out a military response.
“The first thing we have to look at is why are chemical weapons still being used at all when Russia was the framework guarantor of removing all the chemical weapons,” Mattis says at the Pentagon in a meeting with his Qatari counterpart.
“Working with our allies and our partners from NATO to Qatar and elsewhere, we are going to address this issue …. I don’t rule out anything right now.
UK urges ‘strong’ response to alleged Syria chemical attack
LONDON — British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on Monday calls for a “strong and robust international response” to an alleged poison gas attack on a rebel-held town near Damascus.
Speaking with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian on the phone, Johnson “underlined the urgent need to investigate what had happened in Douma and to ensure a strong and robust international response,” the UK’s Foreign Office says in a statement.
Syria and its ally Russia have dismissed allegations that the attack was carried out by Syrian forces as “fabrications” and have warned against using them to justify military action.
EU blames Syrian government for chemical attack
The European Union is squarely laying the blame for the suspected poison gas attack on Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government.
EU spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic says that over the weekend and early Monday as the reports came in of another atrocity in Syria, the EU “learned from several sources” to shape its conviction “that it is the Syrian regime which is responsible” when it comes to the suspected chemical attack.
The EU appealed in a statement on Sunday that Assad allies Russia and Iran “use their influence to prevent any further attack and ensure the cessation of hostilities and de-escalation of violence” as agreed under a UN resolution.
Iran condemns deadly strike on Syrian base
Iran condemns an airstrike on a Syrian air base that killed four Iranians, including a Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps colonel.
The Syrian government blamed Monday’s pre-dawn strike on Israel, which does not typically comment on its operations in Syria. A war monitoring group said the strike killed a total of 14 people.
State-run TV quotes Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi as saying the attack was a “violation of national sovereignty and the territorial integrity of this country, and contrary to all international rules and regulations.”
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