Israel will do ‘whatever we need to do to defend ourselves’ against Iran, Netanyahu says
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told Sky News he will do “whatever we need to do to defend ourselves” against Iran – and diplomacy has failed to stop Tehran from developing its nuclear capabilities.
Speaking exclusively at the prime minister’s offices in Jerusalem, Mr Netanyahu rejected US attempts to resolve the growing crisis only through dialogue.
“I don’t think that diplomacy by itself will work. I think diplomacy can only work if it’s coupled with a credible military threat or the willingness to apply the military option if deterrence fails,” he said.
“Iran is openly committed to destroying, repeating the Holocaust and destroying the six or seven million Jews of Israel and we’re not going to sit by, idly by and let them do it.
“(If) these Ayatollahs think that they could threaten us with a nuclear holocaust they’re wrong. We will do whatever we need to do to defend ourselves.”
During the interview, Mr Netanyahu sent a message to Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as rumours of a peace deal between the countries continue to circulate.
“Our hand is extended to all Arab States and certainly to Saudi Arabia which is vitally important,” he said.
“We have great opportunities to advance the peace in our region, peace between our two countries, the wellbeing of our peoples. I think it would change history.
“I mean we have already made one historic turning point with the four peace treaties of The Abraham accords which Israel made under my leadership with UAE (United Arab Emirates), with Bahrain, with Morocco, with Sudan.
“Obviously Saudi Arabia would be a quantum leap forward because it’s the most influential Arab country not only in the Arab world I think also in the Muslim world, so it would fashion I think the possibility of ending the Arab-Israeli conflict, and I think that it would also help us solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.”
Protests in Tel Aviv
Mr Netanyahu was also challenged on domestic issues – including the controversial judicial reforms that have divided Israel and seen 22 continuous weeks of mass protests.
He was forced to halt the process after the country came to a standstill following his sacking of the defence minister, who was later quietly reinstalled. Compromise negotiations are now taking place to find an agreement.
“It seems to me we have a situation where there is now a fairly broad majority that says we have to reform our judicial system, but the question is how much and how fast? And that is something that I decided in the wake of ensuing months to try and get a consensus,” he said.
“I’m not sure we will get one. We have to bring it into a happy middle, it’s going to be very hard because it’s extremely politicised and often misrepresented.”
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The proposed reforms have attracted public criticism from international allies, including the US. President Joe Biden openly chided the Israeli leader, saying to the American media in March “they cannot continue down this road”.
There has been a significant impact on Israel’s economy, with investors spooked by the proposed reforms – the shekel has fallen by about 5.5% against the dollar, investment in the prided tech industry is down 70% in the first quarter of 2023 compared with 12 months ago, and the credit ratings agency Fitch recently warning Israel that its A+ rating was at risk.
Mr Netanyahu dismissed the concerns: “I don’t think the economy is the problem, I think political consensus is the problem.
“There’s a vast misrepresentation about what we’re doing, everybody’s adding to it, saying we’re going to take away the independence of the court – no we’re not. I’m not going to let that happen.
“It’s important to understand Israel’s economy is very powerful and it’s going to remain powerful because it’s a high tech economy in a high tech world.”
Benjamin Netanyahu and Joe Biden. File pic: AP
2023 has been one of the most violent years between Palestinians and Israelis for decades, including a recent conflict between the Gaza-based Islamic Jihad militants and Israel that lasted five days.
Additionally, the Netanyahu government has approved the building of about 7,000 new settlement homes in the occupied West Bank since the start of the year, a practice considered illegal under international law and by most governments.
The prime minister described as “completely false” a recent statement by the US State Department condemning the building of a Jewish religious school on West Bank land as “violating Israel’s commitment to the Biden administration”.
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“For God sake, this is the land of Israel, it’s our country, so I completely disagree with that, but I think one thing is true – the Palestinians are here and we’re not going to push them out, we’re here and they’re not going to push us out.”
Mr Netanyahu did however commit to preserving the fragile ‘status quo’ at the holy Muslim site in Jerusalem, al Aqsa Compound, known to Jews as The Temple Mount, despite a recent visit by his far-right nationalist interior minister, Itamar Ben Gvir.
“The Temple Mount the status quo sacrosanct, we’re not changing it. I don’t care what anybody says, we’re keeping the status quo and ultimately overtime people will judge it and they will see it hasn’t changed, and won’t change,” he said.
At least 30 people have been killed in the Syrian city of Sweida in clashes between local military groups and tribes, according to Syria’s interior ministry.
Officials say initial figures suggest around 100 people have also been injured in the city, where the Druze faith is one of the major religious groups.
The interior ministry said its forces will directly intervene to resolve the conflict, which the Reuters news agency said involved fighting between Druze gunmen and Bedouin Sunni tribes.
It marks the latest episode of sectarian violence in Syria, where fears among minority groups have increased since Islamist-led rebels toppled President Bashar al Assad in December, installing their own government and security forces.
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In March, Sky’s Stuart Ramsay described escalating violence within Syria
The violence reportedly erupted after a wave of kidnappings, including the abduction of a Druze merchant on Friday on the highway linking Damascus to Sweida.
Last April, Sunni militia clashed with armed Druze residents of Jaramana, southeast of Damascus, and fighting later spread to another district near the capital.
But this is the first time the fighting has been reported inside the city of Sweida itself, the provincial capital of the mostly Druze province.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reports the fighting was centred in the Maqwas neighbourhood east of Sweida and villages on the western and northern outskirts of the city.
It adds that Syria’s Ministry of Defence has deployed military convoys to the area.
Western nations, including the US and UK, have been increasingly moving towards normalising relations with Syria.
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UK aims to build relationship with Syria
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Concerns among minority groups have intensified following the killing of hundreds of Alawites in March, in apparent retaliation for an earlier attack carried out by Assad loyalists.
That was the deadliest sectarian flare-up in years in Syria, where a 14-year civil war ended with Assad fleeing to Russia after his government was overthrown by rebel forces.
The city of Sweida is in southern Syria, about 24 miles (38km) north of the border with Jordan.
The man convicted of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher has been charged with sexual assault against an ex-girlfriend.
Rudy Guede, 38, was the only person who was definitively convicted of the murder of 21-year-old Ms Kercher in Perugia, Italy, back in 2007.
He will be standing trial again in November after an ex-girlfriend filed a police report in the summer of 2023 accusing Guede of mistreatment, personal injury and sexual violence.
Guede, from the Ivory Coast, was released from prison for the murder of Leeds University student Ms Kercher in 2021, after having served about 13 years of a 16-year sentence.
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Since last year – when this investigation was still ongoing – Guede has been under a “special surveillance” regime, Sky News understands, meaning he was banned from having any contact with the woman behind the sexual assault allegations, including via social media, and had to inform police any time he left his city of residence, Viterbo, as ruled by a Rome court.
Guede has been serving a restraining order and fitted with an electronic ankle tag.
The Kercher murder case, in the university city of Perugia, was the subject of international attention.
Ms Kercher, a 21-year-old British exchange student, was found murdered in the flat she shared with her American roommate, Amanda Knox.
The Briton’s throat had been cut and she had been stabbed 47 times.
(L-R) Raffaele Sollecito, Meredith Kercher and Amanda Knox. File pic: AP
Ms Knox and her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were placed under suspicion.
Both were initially convicted of murder, but Italy’s highest court overturned their convictions, acquitting them in 2015.
World
IDF blames ‘technical error’ after Gaza officials say children collecting water killed in strike
The Israeli military says it missed its intended target after Gaza officials said 10 Palestinians – including six children – were killed in a strike at a water collection point.
Another 17 people were wounded in the strike on a water distribution point in Nuseirat refugee camp, said Ahmed Abu Saifan, an emergency physician at Al Awda Hospital.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it had intended to hit an Islamic Jihad militant but a “technical error with the munition” had caused the missile to fall “dozens of metres from the target”.
The IDF said the incident is under review, adding that it “works to mitigate harm to uninvolved civilians as much as possible” and “regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians”.
A wounded child is treated after the strike on the water collection point. Pic: Reuters
Officials at Al Awda Hospital said it received 10 bodies after the Israeli strike on the water collection point and six children were among the dead.
Ramadan Nassar, who lives in the area, said around 20 children and 14 adults were lined up Sunday morning to fill up water.
When the strike occurred, everyone ran and some, including those who were severely injured, fell to the ground, he said.
Blood stains are seen on containers at the water collection point. Pic: Reuters
In total, 19 people were killed in Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, local health officials said.
Two women and three children were among nine killed after an Israeli strike on a home in the central town of Zawaida, officials at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said.
Israel has claimed it hit more than 150 targets in the besieged enclave in the past day.
The latest strikes come after the Israel military opened fire near an aid centre in Rafah on Saturday. The Red Cross said 31 people were killed.
The IDF has said it fired “warning shots” near the aid distribution site but it was “not aware of injured individuals” as a result.
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Palestinians shot while seeking aid, says paramedic
The war in Gaza started in response to Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, which killed 1,200 people and saw about 250 taken hostage.
More than 58,000 Palestinians have since been killed, with more than half being women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.
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US President Donald Trump has said he is closing in on another ceasefire agreement that would see more hostages released and potentially wind down the war.
But after two days of talks this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, there were no signs of a breakthrough, as a new sticking point emerged over the deployment of Israeli troops during the truce.
Hamas still holds 50 hostages, with fewer than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
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