International

Israel considering retaliation against Iran, says Cameron

April 17, 2024 5:21 pm

David Cameron, the United Kingdom (UK) foreign secretary, says Israel “is making a decision to act” against Iran after its missile and drone attacks.

Cameron spoke on Wednesday after a meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli prime minister, in the Jewish nation.

Iran attacked Israel last week after a presumed offensive from the Jewish nation on April 1 at the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria.

Seven Iranian military officers including, two generals were killed in the assault.

Many nations have since urged Israel to exercise restraint to prevent a wider outbreak of conflict in the Middle East.

Since October 2023, Israel has been at war with Hamas, an Iran-backed Palestinian militant group.

The war between Israel and Hamas has led to the death of thousands, famine, disease outbreaks, forced migration, and pockets of flare-ups in violence across the region.

“It’s clear the Israelis are making a decision to act,” Cameron said.

“We hope that anything Israel does is as limited and as targeted and as smart as possible.

“It’s in no one’s interest that we see escalation and that is what we said very clearly to all the people I’ve been speaking to here in Israel.”

After the meeting, Netanyahu said: “I want to make it clear – we will make our own decisions, and the State of Israel will do everything necessary to defend itself.”

Western governments hope new economic sanctions against Iran will help persuade Israel to limit the scope of its retaliation.

Cameron said Britain wants to see coordinated sanctions against Iran by the members of the G7 which are meeting this week in Italy.

The UK foreign minister added that they need to send a “clear unequivocal” message.

The G7 countries are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, and the US.

Israel is expected to discuss its response to Iran at a meeting of the prime minister’s war cabinet.

The meeting was set to be held on Tuesday but was moved to Wednesday without reason.