Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
US President Donald Trump has threatened more strikes on Iran as Washington presses for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, while tensions across the Middle East continued to rise. Within hours, Kuwait said it was responding to a fresh round of drone attacks from Iran, and British officials reported that a tanker was struck in the strategic waterway.
At the same time, Israel carried out heavy strikes on the Gaza Strip after Hamas said it would disarm, in what could be a significant step towards ending the war. Elsewhere in the region, the Houthis forced Saudi ships to change course, and fresh developments were reported in southern Lebanon.
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Speaking to reporters on Friday during a meeting with Cabinet members at Camp David in Maryland, Trump said, “we just want to win” in Iran and indicated that US military action could continue for some time. He said the US would hit Iran “very hard” until they can’t take it anymore. Later, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tehran had signed a memorandum of understanding with the US on a truce last month but then “broke it, shot at commercial ships, and killed American soldiers”. She added: “President Trump is not going to stand by and allow this terrorist behaviour to occur. Iran will continue to pay until they come to the table in, what President Trump deems, a meaningful way.” On Saturday, the US State Department issued fresh security alerts for Americans in Bahrain, Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, warning of possible flight cancellations, temporary airspace closures and other travel disruption.
Kuwait’s military said on Saturday that its forces were responding to drone attacks that were part of Iran’s assaults on the country. Defence Ministry spokesperson Maj Gen Saud Abdulaziz Al-Otaibi said the drones hit “a number of vital facilities”, including a government building in the north, but there were no casualties. The British Navy also reported two incidents involving commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz off Oman. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organisation said an unknown projectile hit a vessel on Friday 11 nautical miles northeast of Lima, Oman, damaging its engine room. It said that on Saturday a large splash and an explosion were reported close to another tanker 21 nautical miles northwest of Khasab city. No casualties were reported in either case. Iran has repeatedly attacked vessels trying to pass through the strait without its authorisation during its conflict with the US.
In Gaza, local health officials said intense Israeli strikes on Friday night and Saturday killed at least four people in central and northern parts of the territory and wounded dozens more. The overnight strikes followed evacuation warnings by the Israeli military, which said on Saturday that it had struck Hamas targets across Gaza and dismantled five Hamas storage facilities. The attacks came after Hamas confirmed on Friday that it would disarm, though major obstacles remain. A 24-year-old tuk-tuk driver, Abdel Moneim Aboul-Roos, who lost his leg in an Israeli strike, told The Associated Press that he does not care about “talk about withdrawal and disarmament” as long as basics such as food and medicine are still lacking. Israel has not officially commented on the Hamas deal, which is part of a US-brokered ceasefire announced last October. The agreement called for Hamas to disarm and hand over power to an independent Palestinian administration, while Israel was to withdraw and an International Stabilisation Force was to be deployed.
Egypt, which has played a key role in mediation, welcomed Hamas and other Palestinian groups for “their positive response” to the phased peace plan, according to Egyptian state-run media. In Israel, far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir called the deal “unacceptable” and said the killings in Gaza must continue, adding, “Israel must win.” Elsewhere, Houthi rebels said eight Saudi ships were forced to reroute away from the Bab el-Mandeb strait after the group announced a blockade on Saudi shipping there. Houthi military spokesperson Brig Gen Yahya Saree said the vessels changed course to the Cape of Good Hope around Africa. In southern Lebanon, Israeli forces set off explosions on Friday to destroy an underground tunnel network beneath the Crusader-built Beaufort Castle, which Israel says had been used by Hezbollah as a command centre. The 12th-century site, also known as Al-Shaqif, was seized by Israeli forces in May and was recently added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List over Israel’s objections. Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun said the Israeli operation sent “negative messages” ahead of talks in Rome, where Israeli and Lebanese teams are due to meet again on a plan for an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon in exchange for Hezbollah’s disarmament. Israel’s military also said an army officer was moderately wounded in an encounter with Hezbollah militants overnight into Saturday. There was no immediate comment from Lebanese authorities or Hezbollah. Thirty-eight Israeli soldiers have been killed in Lebanon or northern Israel since that conflict reignited when Hezbollah fired at Israel shortly after the start of the Iran war.
The latest developments underline the widening strain across the region, with the US threatening further action against Iran, attacks continuing in and around the Strait of Hormuz, Israeli strikes hitting Gaza after Hamas’s disarmament announcement, and tensions also rising in the Red Sea and southern Lebanon.
With PTI Inputs
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
