Israel vows to 'exact a price' from Iran as world leaders continue to call for de-escalation

While the world calls for de-escalation of the ongoing tensions in West Asia, Israel pledged that it will “exact a price” from Iran after a barrage of missiles and drones infiltrated its territory.

As the country reels from the Iranian strikes, its war cabinet weighs its response to the unprecedented overnight attack. Amid the ongoing turmoil, Israel’s war cabinet which has been authorised to respond to such attack met on Sunday to discuss the future plans.

During the meeting one of the cabinet members Benny Gantz maintained that the “event is not over”, CNN reported. Gantz insisted on the need “to build a regional coalition and exact a price from Iran, in a way and at a time that suits us.”

More from World

This Week in Explainers: How recovering from Gen-Z protests is a Himalayan task for Nepal Zohran Mamdani says he would arrest Netanyahu if he is elected as NYC mayor, calls Israeli PM 'war criminal'

Just hours before Gantz’s proclamation, Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that Israel had “thwarted this attack in a way that is unparalleled” but added that “we (Tel Aviv) must be prepared for every scenario.”

The war cabinet remains divided over the retaliation plan

According to The Times of Israel, the Israeli war cabinet conducted deliberation for over three hours but did not reach a unanimous decision over how the country would respond to the Iranian attack.

An official source from the Israeli prime minister’s office said that while the cabinet is certain that “there will be a response”, they are waiting for the Israeli Defence Force (IDF)  to “present options”.

Impact Shorts

More Shorts

‘The cries of this widow will echo’: In first public remarks, Erika Kirk warns Charlie’s killers they’ve ‘unleashed a fire’

Trump urges Nato to back sanctions on Russia, calls for 50–100% tariffs on China

The source also told the Israeli news outlet that the cabinet unanimously favours a retaliation against Iran but continues to remain divided over the timing and scale of any such response.

Israel faces international pressure

The Israeli cabinet struggles to come up with a unanimous decision on the matter as Tel Aviv continues to face pressure from the Western allies to de-escalate an intensely fraught situation.

Amid the chaos, US President Joe Biden and senior members of his national security team sought to contain the risk of a wider regional war and told their Israeli counterpart that the United States would not participate in any offensive action against Iran.

In a conversation with the Israeli Prime Minister on Saturday, Biden insisted that further Israeli response was “unnecessary”, CNN reported. The POTUS insisted that Israelis should consider the Saturday incident a win because Iran’s attacks had been largely unsuccessful and demonstrated Israel’s superior military capability.

However, during phone calls with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron and French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz maintained that the Jewish nation will continue defending its citizens.

“I emphasized: Israel, like any other country, is committed to defend its citizens,” said Katz in a post on X.

“I told them — it’s your time to weaken the Iranian regime, to proscribe the IRGC as a terrorist organization, and to impose crippling sanctions on the Iranian missile project. Iran must pay a price,” he added.

I spoke today with British Foreign Secretary @David_Cameron and French Foreign Minister @steph_sejourne. I thanked them for their assistance in the thwarting Iranian attack on Israel last night, for their steadfast support, and true friendship in times of need 🇬🇧🇮🇱🇫🇷.

However, I…

— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) April 14, 2024

Iran issues new warning

After reports started to swirl that Israel was planning to retaliate, Iran maintained that a “new equation” in its adversarial relationship with Israel had been opened and warned of a “much bigger” assault on the country if Netanyahu decided to conduct a “tit-for-tat attack”.

“We have decided to create a new equation, which is that if from now on the Zionist regime (Israel) attacks our interests, assets, personalities, and citizens, anywhere, and at any point we will retaliate against them,” the Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Hossein Salami told Iranian state TV.

Meanwhile, Sardar Bagheri, the Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces, had stated “if the Zionist regime responds, our next operation will be much bigger.”

Bagheri insisted that from Iran’s perspective, the military operation against Israel “has concluded”. However, he made it clear that Iran will continue to remain on high alert.