The Middle East is the closest it has been to regional war in 50 years, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the UK has warned.
Prince Khalid bin Bandar al Saud told Sky News’s The World with Yalda Hakim that the situation on the ground is only getting worse and it is time to put in “renewed efforts” to stop fighting in places like Gaza.
“I’d like to say I was optimistic, but it is difficult to see where that optimism would come from,” he said, when asked his reaction to the conflict.
“The situation on the ground is getting worse and worse… I think this is the closest we’ve been to a regional war since 1973.”
Mr al Saud said it is down to both the Israelis and Palestinians to do all they can to prevent further escalation.
Image: Khalid bin Bandar Al Saud
“The Israeli-Palestinian problem affects people all around the world in a way that very few conflicts have. You see in protests [around the world], everyone is affected and motivated by what is happening on the ground.
“So Israelis and Palestinians have a responsibility – whether they like it or not – to the world.
Image: An image appears to show an exploded walkie-talkie inside a house, in Baalbek, east Lebanon . ic: AP
Image: Mourners in Lebanon after pager explosions. Pic: AP
“A conflict that spreads beyond where it is, spreads to the region. If it spreads to the region, it spreads to the world, and that’s not a scenario that anybody wants to see.
“It is time we put renewed efforts in to stop the fighting… we need more of the international community to push harder,” he said.
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2:43
Lebanon: How did the blasts happen?
‘Warning shots’
His caution comes after Israel’s defence minister announced a “new phase” of the war with troops moving up to the country’s northern border, where it has exchanged cross-border fire with Hezbollah for months.
Over the past two days, dozens of members of the Lebanese militant group have been killed after electronic devices – pagers and hand-held radios – exploded.
Despite Israel not yet confirming or denying its involvement in the attacks, many – including the UN secretary general – speculate this could prelude a more serious attack.
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2:27
Israel declares ‘new phase’ of war
Another of those is former senior Israeli intelligence official, Dr Eyal Pinko, who told The World with Yalda Hakim that the explosive pagers and radios were a “warning shot”.
He said the blasts were a “very successful tactical move”, although he claimed he did not know if Israel was responsible.
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“The way this operation was done – if it was by Israel or not – it’s a way of saying or signalling ‘let’s stop here… we can penetrate you… and let’s stop here’,” he added, claiming Israel did not want any further escalation.
A total of 32 people were killed in the two communication device explosions. Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that the US is still assessing how the attacks in Lebanon could affect efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.
Israel has approved a plan to capture all of the Gaza Strip and remain there for an unspecified length of time, Israeli officials say.
According to Reuters, the plan includes distributing aid, though supplies will not be let in yet.
The Israeli official told the agency that the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza’s civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’s hands.
On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.
Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to achieve his goal of destroying Hamas or returning all the hostages, despite more than a year of brutal war in Gaza.
Image: Palestinian children struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza. Pic: AP
Officials say the plan will help with these war aims but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
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They said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories”.
It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza.
The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.
It said it “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy”.
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More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since the IDF launched its ground offensive in the densely-populated territory, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
It followed the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
A fragile ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners collapsed earlier this year.
Yemen’s Houthi rebel group has said 15 people have been injured in “US-British” airstrikes in and around the capital Sanaa.
Most of those hurt were from the Shuub district, near the centre of the city, a statement from the health ministry said.
Another person was injured on the main airport road, the statement added.
It comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” following a missile attack by the group on Israel’s main international airport on Sunday morning.
It remains unclear whether the UK took part in the latest strikes and any role it may have played.
On 29 April, UK forces, the British government said, took part in a joint strike on “a Houthi military target in Yemen”.
“Careful intelligence analysis identified a cluster of buildings, used by the Houthis to manufacture drones of the type used to attack ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, located some fifteen miles south of Sanaa,” the British Ministry of Defence said in a previous statement.
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On Sunday, the militant group fired a missile at the Ben Gurion Airport, sparking panic among passengers in the terminal building.
The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly caused flights to be halted.
Four people were said to be injured, according to the country’s paramedic service.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” after the group launched a missile attack on the country’s main international airport.
A missile fired by the group from Yemen landed near Ben Gurion Airport, causing panic among passengers in the terminal building.
“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on X. “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”
Image: Israeli police officers investigate the missile crater. Pic: Reuters
The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly halted flights and commuter traffic at the airport. Some international carriers have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv for several days.
Four people were lightly wounded, paramedic service Magen David Adom said.
Air raid sirens went off across Israel and footage showed passengers yelling and rushing for cover.
The attack came hours before senior Israeli cabinet ministers were set to vote on whether to intensify the country’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, and as the army began calling up thousands of reserves in anticipation of a wider operation in the enclave.
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Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the group fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the airport.
Iran’s defence minister later told a state TV broadcaster that if the country was attacked by the US or Israel, it would target their bases, interests and forces where necessary.
Israel’s military said several attempts to intercept the missile were unsuccessful.
Air, road and rail traffic were halted after the attack, police said, though it resumed around an hour later.
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Yemen’s Houthis have been firing missiles at Israel since its war with Hamas in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, and while most have been intercepted, some have penetrated the country’s missile defence systems and caused damage.
Israel has previously struck the group in Yemen in retaliation and the US and UK have also launched strikes after the Houthis began attacking international shipping, saying it was in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas.