Middle East crisis live: Israel threatens to strike Iran directly

Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez warned on Wednesday that Israel ’s “disproportionate response” in the Gaza war with Hamas risks “destabilising the Middle East, and as a consequence, the entire world”, reports AFP.

In late March, Sánchez signed a joint statement alongside his Irish, Maltese and Slovenian counterparts on the sidelines of an EU summit announcing they were ready “to recognise Palestine” when “the circumstances are right” if that could help bring about a resolution to the conflict.

In August 2019, the US Treasury announced sanctions against several people including Sarur, accusing them of funnelling “tens of millions of dollars” from the foreign operations arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards through Hezbollah in Lebanon “to Hamas for terrorist attacks originating from the Gaza Strip”.

Rishi Sunak defended the UK’s decision not to suspend arms sales to Israel, saying “none of our closest allies” have stopped existing export licences but added Benjamin Netanyahu “needs to do more” to alleviate suffering in Gaza, reports the Press Association (PA).

Downing Street has come under mounting pressure from senior Tories to suspend weapons exports in light of the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and after the deaths of three Britons in the strike on aid group World Central Kitchen.

“Overnight, for the first time ever, an IDF Sa’ar 6-class corvette missile ship successfully intercepted a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) that had approached from the east and had crossed into the area of the Gulf of Eilat,” the military said on Tuesday.