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Israel Spox-We Are On Extremely High Alert For Iranian Retaliation

MIDEAST

Israeli gov't spox David Mencer has said at a briefing with journalists that "We are not commenting on that particular incident" when questioned about the killing of Hamas' political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Mencer goes on to say that Israel is "on extremely high alert for Iranian retaliation".

  • In the wake of Haniyeh's death, Mencer says that "We are committed to Gaza ceasefire negotitations [and] we want [the] hostage deal to succeed."
  • Defence Minister Yoav Gallant held a call with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin III regarding the earlier airstrike on Beirut that is believed to have killed Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr (Pentagon readout here). Gallant tells Austin "The elimination of Hezbollah's Chief of Staff is a direct response to the murder of the 12 children in Majdal Shams - Israel does not intend to escalate the situation but is prepared to respond to any attempted harm from Hezbollah""
  • Separately, the Qatari Foreign Minstry has commented on a call between PM Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, saying the two discussed continuing to work for a ceasefire in Gaza. Earlier, Qatar and Egypt, both key negotiators in the indirect talks, said that Haniyeh's killing could jeopardise prospects of a ceasefire deal in the near future.

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