German Chancellor Olaf Scholz appealed to Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, to do everything possible to prevent a further military escalation in the Middle East in a phone call on Monday, according to a German government spokesperson.
The spiral of violence in the Middle East must be broken now, as any other course would lead to incalculable danger for the countries and people in the region, Scholz was quoted as telling Pezeshkian.
Iran has the “right to an appropriate and deterrent response” against Israel to ensure regional stability, the country’s acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani told his Chinese counterpart on Monday according to state media.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Sunday that Iran was making preparations for a large-scale military attack on Israel, Axios reporter Barak Ravid said in a post on X, citing a source with knowledge of the call.
In a statement on Monday, Gallant’s ministry confirmed the call took place overnight. It said Gallant and Austin discussed operational and strategic coordination and the Israeli military’s readiness in the face of Iranian threats.
Austin has meanwhile ordered the deployment of a guided missile submarine to the Middle East. The U.S. military had already said it would deploy additional fighter jets and Navy warships to the region to bolster Israeli defences.
On Friday, an Iranian Revolutionary Guards deputy commander was quoted as saying by local news agencies that Iran was set to carry out an order by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to
“harshly punish” Israel over the assassination on July 31 of the leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas in Tehran.
Israeli forces pressed on with operations near the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis on Monday amid an international push for a deal to halt fighting in Gaza and prevent a slide into a wider regional conflict with Iran and its proxies.
Palestinian medics said Israeli military strikes on Khan Younis on Monday killed at least 18 people and wounded several. Meanwhile more families and displaced persons streamed out of areas threatened by new evacuation orders telling people to clear the area.
Later an Israeli airstrike killed five people in the Zeitoun suburb of Gaza City, and two others were killed in Rafah, near the border with Egypt, medics said.
As fighting continued, Hamas reacted sceptically to the latest round of Egyptian and Qatari-brokered talks due on Thursday, saying it had seen no sign of movement from the Israeli side.
The group said on Sunday that mediators must force Israel to accept a ceasefire proposal based on ideas from U.S. President Joe Biden, which Hamas had accepted, “instead of pursuing further rounds of negotiations or new proposals that would provide cover for the occupation’s aggression”.
Two sources close to Hamas told Reuters the group was convinced the new call for talks was coordinated beforehand with Israel to deter responses from Iran and Hezbollah to the assassination of the group’s chief, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran and a top Hezbollah leader in Lebanon.
