Jerusalem has told French and British government ministers it expects support in attacking Iran should the Islamic Republic launch a retaliatory strike on Israel after former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran last month.
The alarming statement by Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz raises fears that Britain could be dragged into a major conflict should chaos break out in the Middle East in the event of an Iranian attack on Israel.
‘If Iran attacks, we expect the coalition to join Israel not only in defence but also in attacking significant targets in Iran,’ Foreign Minister Israel Katz told his French and UK counterparts today. He also warned Iran – which backs Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthi rebels in Yemen, all of whom have attacked Israel since the Gaza war started – to stop their assaults on Israeli soil, describing the country as ‘the head of the axis of evil’.
Meanwhile, international diplomacy to prevent the war in Gaza from spreading into a wider regional conflict intensified.
While British Foreign Secretary David Lammy met with French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné and Katz, internationally mediated cease-fire talks in Qatar rolled into their second day.
The push for an end to the Israel-Hamas war – along with Israel expressing its expectation of military support from Britain and France – came as the Palestinian death toll in Gaza climbed past 40,000.




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