On Tuesday, a barrage of Iranian missiles showered fiery comets over Israeli towns, sending citizens into air raid shelters. In the ravaged southern borderlands of Lebanon, families cowered under plumes of glowing red from Israeli warplanes and a ground invasion.
In Khan Younis in Gaza, now in the shadow of the Israel-Iran conflict, the Palestinian health ministry said Israeli strikes killed 51 people, bringing the death toll to an almost unfathomable 41,600. Israel and the Houthi fighters in Yemen have also traded fire – which a few years ago would have made headlines but, against the backdrop of the towering inferno of the Middle East, was largely met with a shrug.
The world is holding its breath for what comes next. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, vowing to retaliate against Iran, said: “They made a big mistake tonight, and they will pay for it.” Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian warned that Israel would face a harsh reaction if it did not stop what he called “its crimes,” while an Iranian commander threatened wider strikes on infrastructure if Israel retaliates.
In the wake of this, Britain’s prime minister Keir Starmer once again raised the alarm about the region being “on the brink”. Donald Trump went one step further, accusing US vicepresident Kamala Harris and president Joe Biden of “leading us to the brink of World War III”.
This story is from the October 03, 2024 edition of The Independent.
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This story is from the October 03, 2024 edition of The Independent.
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