Emmanuel Macron judged, Wednesday April 17, that he was “duty” of the European Union to broaden the scope of sanctions targeting Iran, four days after the attack on Israel. “We are in favor of there being sanctions which could also target all those who help to make missiles, drones which were used during the attack from Saturday to Sunday”he declared in Brussels, shortly before a summit of the Twenty-Seven. “So our duty is to expand these sanctions,” he insisted. He says he pleaded for this solution during the virtual G7 summit on Sunday. Follow our live stream.
Hamas considers Iran’s attack on Israel “legitimate and deserved”. This is the first reaction of the Palestinian Islamist movement. “The response of the Islamic Republic of Iran confirms that the time when the Zionist entity could act as it pleases without being held accountable or suffering punishment is over”Hamas said in a statement.
Exchanges of fire intensify between Israel and Hezbollah. A strike from Lebanon on the village of Arab al-Aramche in northern Israel caused “14 injured, including two seriously”, announced the Nahariya hospital. An attack claimed by the Lebanese pro-Iranian movement, which claims to have targeted an Israeli military command post, “in response” following the death of at least three of its fighters in Israeli strikes the day before. For his part, theThe Israeli army declared that “shots coming from Lebanon had been identified in the Arab al-Aramche area”adding that it had bombed the place where the shots came from and a “military complex” of Hezbollah, in Aïta el-Chaab, in southern Lebanon.
Negotiations for a truce in Gaza are “stagnating”, according to the Qatari mediator. Negotiations aimed at ending hostilities in the Gaza Strip and freeing Israeli hostages “trample”noted on Wednesday the Prime Minister of Qatar, one of the main mediators between the Jewish state and Hamas. “We are going through a sensitive phase”recognized Mohammed ben Abdelrahmane al-Thani, during a press conference. “We are trying, as much as possible, to overcome it (…) in order to put an end to the suffering of the population in Gaza and to obtain the release of the hostages”he said.
The United States is preparing new sanctions against Iran. The White House announced Tuesday evening that retaliatory measures would be taken against the Islamic regime, targeting in particular “its drone and missile programs”. These new sanctions will “continue the continued pressure exerted on Iran in order to contain and deteriorate its military capabilities”added Jake Sullivan, national security adviser to the American president.