UN chief calls on Israel, Iran to halt hostilities

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called on Iran and Israel to immediately put an end to "all hostile acts and any provocative actions.”

Guterres urged Tehran and Tel Aviv "to avoid a new conflagration in the region already embroiled in terrible conflicts with immense suffering of civilians," his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

Guterres "notes with relief today’s partial normalization of the situation," Dujarric added.

The UN chief further called on the Security Council "to remain actively seized of the matter and shoulder its responsibilities under the" UN charter, Dujarric noted and said Guterres "stands ready to work closely with all its members in this regard."

The Israeli army claimed Iranian forces in Syria had fired 20 rockets into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, but said all had been intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome air-defense system.

In a separate statement, the Israeli army claimed its fighter jets had struck some 50 military targets associated with Iran’s Quds Force inside Syrian territory.

The strikes, it alleged, had come in response to “rockets fired by the Quds Force [from Syrian territory] at IDF forward posts in the Golan Heights”.

According to Israeli army spokesman Ronen Manelis, last night’s strikes “significantly damaged Quds Force and [Iranian] Revolutionary Guard targets throughout Syria”.

“Iranian forces will need months to recover from the strikes,” Manelis told Israeli army radio.

The spokesman went on to describe the strikes as “one of the largest” air attacks by the Israeli Air Force in recent years.

The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the strikes, saying 28 Israeli F-15 and F-16 warplanes had fired 60 missiles at Iranian troop concentrations and air-defense systems inside Syria.

Tehran, for its part, has yet to officially react to the strikes.

But Abolfazl Hassan Beige, a member of Iran's parliamentary national security committee, accused Israel of “lying” about the strikes, denying any Iranian involvement in Wednesday’s alleged missile attack in the Golan Heights.

In April, Israel struck the T-4 airbase in Syria’s western Homs province, reportedly killing a number of Iranian army officers, sparking fears of possible reprisal by Iran.