UPDATES WITH NETANYAHU’S STATEMENT ON MACRON
By Said Amori
JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once again vowed to respond to Iran’s Oct. 1 retaliatory missile attack, claiming that his country has the "right" to do so.
In a televised address on Saturday evening, Netanyahu reiterated that Israel would respond to the Iranian attack.
“Iran has twice fired hundreds of missiles at our territory and our cities – ballistic missile attacks among the largest in history," he said, referring to this week’s attack as well as an earlier attack this April.
He added: “Israel has the duty and the right to defend itself and respond to these attacks – and we will do so.”
Netanyahu also criticized French President Emmanuel Macron for urging an embargo on sending weapons to Israel, which are used in the genocide in Gaza.
“President Macron and other Western leaders are now calling for arms embargoes against Israel,” said Netanyahu, calling this push a “disgrace.”
Israel will win “with or without their support,” he added, presumably referring to his Western critics.
Iran fired 180 missiles at Israel on Oct. 1, which it said was in retaliation for the recent assassinations of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, and an Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander.
Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of Israel's war on Gaza, which has killed over 41,800 people, most of them women and children, following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last October.
Due to Israeli attacks, at least 2,036 people have since been killed, over 9,500 injured, and 1.2 million others displaced, according to Lebanese authorities.
The international community has warned that Israeli attacks in Lebanon could escalate the Gaza conflict into a wider regional war.
*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala