- Press release
- 4 January 2024
- 15:41
Iran: Statement by the High Representative on behalf of the EU on the bombing in the city of Kerman
The EU condemns in the strongest terms the bombing in the city of Kerman in Iran.
This shocking act of terror has cost the lives of innocent civilians, with many injured.
The EU expresses its solidarity with the Iranian people.
Our thoughts are with the victims and their families.
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Jan. 3: Several Hezbollah members killed in Israeli strikes as erupting tensions roil border
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US says Hamas still a force in Gaza, seeks to calm jitters over carrier departure * Justice minister says court harming unity
The Times of Israel liveblogged Wednesday’s events as they happened.
Heavy fighting reported in Gaza
Palestinian media outlets report on heavy airstrikes and fighting in central and southern Gaza.
Fierce battles are said to be taking place in the al-Maghazi Refugee Camp in central Gaza.
In addition, repeated airstrikes are reported in the southern metropolis of Khan Younis.
There is no comment from the IDF.
Four Hezbollah members said killed as Israel strikes terror cell in southern Lebanon
A local Hezbollah official and three other members of the Iran-aligned terror group were killed late on Wednesday in an Israeli strike on southern Lebanon, two security sources tell Reuters.
The strike brings the death toll in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon on Wednesday to nine Hezbollah members in one of the deadliest days for the group since it began exchanging cross-border fire with Israel in October.
The IDF says in a statement that it carried out an strike against a terror cell operating in the southern Lebanese village of Yaroun.
In another unspecified area of south Lebanon, the IDF says it targeted Hezbollah’s observation capabilities and other “military infrastructure” manned by the terror group’s operatives.
Several projectiles were fired from Lebanon at northern Israel a short while ago, which the IDF says all landed in open areas near the community of Goren.
Top Lebanese diplomat says Beirut asking Hezbollah to avoid war
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib tells CNN he is trying to convince Hezbollah to back off and keep the group from pushing Lebanon into war with Israel, but admits Beirut has little control over the powerful terror militia.
“It’s not like we can order them. We’re not claiming that but we can convince them and I think it is working in this direction,” he tells the station during a visit to Washington.
He says Lebanon does “not want any war” and fears the skirmishes between Israel and the terror group, which have been mainly limited to the border region, could spread.
“We don’t like a regional war because it’s dangerous to everybody. Dangerous to Lebanon, dangerous to Israel and to the countries surrounding Israel,” he says.
Bou Habib also accuses Israel of being behind a pair of bombs that went off at the tomb of Iran’s gen. Qassem Soleimani in which over 100 people were killed, without providing any evidence.
Hamas still has significant forces in Gaza, White House says
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby says Hamas “still has a significant force posture inside Gaza, but Israel’s goal to defeat the terror group remains attainable.”
Kirby acknowledges, though, that while it’s possible for Israel to significantly degrade Hamas’s capabilities by eliminating the terror group’s leadership, the IDF won’t likely be able to “erase the group from existence.”
“You are probably not going to eliminate the ideology,” Kirby says, reiterating the US belief that only by presenting a viable path toward peace can the vision of Hamas be successfully combated.
Kirby notes that US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan held a phone call Tuesday with Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, a top aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to discuss the Israel-Gaza war and efforts to secure the release of the remaining hostages held by terrorists in the Strip
“They discussed ongoing Israeli military operations and ongoing efforts to see if we can secure the release of the remaining hostages,” Kirby says.
Kirby insists that hostage talks are ongoing and serious, despite the growing understanding that the sides are at a crossroads.
Hezbollah names 3 members killed amid cross-border clashes
Hezbollah announces the deaths of three members of the terror group, bringing the number of operatives killed Wednesday to five, as the sides continue to exchange fire across the increasingly volatile border.
The three are named as Muhammad Akram Hamad, Abbas Hussein Zaher and Hassan Ali Daqiq.
The group claims it targeted a group of Israeli soldiers near Shomera on the border “with appropriate weapons” at 8:55 p.m.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah-affiliated al-Meyadeen news site reports Israeli strikes on the town of Naqoura, on the southern Lebanese coast.
There is no comment from Israeli military authorities.
Hezbollah has named 143 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 19 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and at least 19 civilians, three of whom were journalists, have been killed.
US not going anywhere, White House says amid jitters in wake of carrier departure
The US will “continue to maintain a significant military force presence in the Middle East,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby says amid reported Israeli concerns about the Biden administration’s decision to withdraw one of the two aircraft carriers it moved into the Eastern Mediterranean following Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught.
The US military presence includes the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower as well as an Amphibious Ready Group, which moved into the Eastern Mediterranean in recent days upon the departure of the USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier, Kirby says during a press briefing.
The US is not interested in seeing the Gaza conflict spread, “but neither will we shrink from the task of defending ourselves, our interests and our partners,” Kirby says in reference to recent attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
"The EU expresses its solidarity with the Iranian people. This terrorist attack has resulted in a shocking number of civilian deaths and casualties. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families at this time. The perpetrators must be brought to justice," the spokesperson said in a written statement.
Earlier, it was reported that at least 103 people were killed and 170 were injured after two explosions happened near Iranian Army General Qasem Soleimani's grave in Kerman.
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