Netanyahu declares 'obligation to respond to Iran' as army readies 'significant' attack

As Tel Aviv rushes toward its latest escalation in the regional war, Washington has called on its allies to avoid striking Iranian oilfields  

News Desk - The Cradle

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a recorded message on 5 October in which he pledged to strike back against Iran for its massive retaliatory attack that pummeled several Israeli military bases earlier this week.

"Twice already, Iran has fired, and we have intercepted hundreds of missiles from the largest ballistic missile attack in history. No country in the world would have accepted such an attack, and neither will Israel, and we will respond to these attacks," the premier said as Israeli warplanes continued to rain down fire on civilian infrastructure across neighboring Lebanon.

Netanyahu claimed that over recent weeks the army “began to fulfill the promise I gave to the residents of the north. We eliminated [Hezbollah chief Hassan] Nasrallah and the top echelon of Hezbollah … Although we have not yet completed the removal of the threat, we have clearly changed the course of the war and the balance of the war – until our arms are still outstretched.”

The Israeli premier, who faces war crimes and genocide charges from the International Criminal Court (ICC), stressed that his nation is "determined to defend itself against any threat. That includes the threat from Iran, which is behind all the attacks on us — from Gaza, from Lebanon, from Yemen, from Iraq and Syria — and of course, from Iran itself."

Earlier in the day, military authorities in Tel Aviv announced that the response to Iran's retaliation for Israel's bombing of the presidential guesthouse in Tehran in July would be “serious and significant,” and that it was devoting much of its time to planning it.

Elsewhere in his speech, Netanyahu took aim at French President Emmanuel Macron, who said on Saturday, “I think that today, the priority is that we return to a political solution, that we stop delivering weapons to fight in Gaza,” adding that France was not sending any arms to Israel.

"As Israel fights the forces of barbarism led by Iran, all civilized countries should be standing firmly by Israel's side. Yet, President Macron and other western leaders are now calling for arms embargoes against Israel. Shame on them," Netanyahu said in response.

US President Joe Biden on Friday cautioned Israel against striking Iranian oil facilities, a day after he said Washington was “discussing” such action.

“If I were in their shoes, I’d be thinking about other alternatives than striking oilfields,” Biden said. The White House previously said it does not support an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear program.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Friday declared that the Islamic Republic's “strategic patience is over, urging all Muslim nations to "tighten the defense belt from Afghanistan to Yemen, from Iran to Gaza and Lebanon.” 

“Every country has the right to defend itself,” he stressed, adding that “Israel’s actions have intensified the anger of the Axis of Resistance and have reinforced its resolve.”