By Iclal Turan
WASHINGTON (AA) - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday that the US will "stand with Israel against any threats by Iran and its proxies."
Blinken and Gallant spoke over phone, said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, adding they also discussed “ongoing efforts to secure the release of all hostages through an agreement for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.”
"Secretary Blinken welcomed Israel’s recent announcements of urgent steps to facilitate the entry of humanitarian assistance into Gaza and to improve humanitarian deconfliction and coordination, reiterating that incidents such as the strike on World Central Kitchen workers must never reoccur," Miller said
Blinken also shared the US' expectation from Israel to "quickly implement its commitments on humanitarian assistance and deconfliction and that those commitments must be sustained over time."
US President Joe Biden warned earlier Wednesday that Washington's commitment to Israel's security against threats from Iran and its proxies is "ironclad" after Tehran vowed revenge for an Israeli airstrike on its consulate in the Syrian capital Damascus.
"We're going to do all we can to protect Israel's security," Biden said during a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
An exchange of threats between Israel and Iran has heightened tensions, with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz issuing a stern warning in a post on social media.
In the post on X, written in Hebrew and Persian and directly tagging Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Katz said his country would retaliate if Iran launched an attack on Israel from its soil.
Gallant also asserted that any aggression against his country would be met with a robust defense followed by a potent response within the attacker's territory.
His comments came shortly after Khamenei's remarks in Tehran, where he addressed a crowd on the eve of the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting month Ramadan, saying "the evil regime made a mistake and must be punished, and it shall be."
At least 13 people were killed in the attack, including seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officers, which Iranian authorities blamed on Israel.