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Netanyahu Says ‘We Can Finish the Job’ against Iran after Meeting Rubio

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands during a press conference at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2025. (Reuters)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands during a press conference at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2025. (Reuters)
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Netanyahu Says ‘We Can Finish the Job’ against Iran after Meeting Rubio

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands during a press conference at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2025. (Reuters)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands during a press conference at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2025. (Reuters)

Israel and the United States are determined to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions and its "aggression" in the Middle East, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday after meeting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Speaking after meeting Rubio in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said they had held a "very productive discussion" on a number of issues, "none more important than Iran".

"Israel and America stand shoulder to shoulder in countering the threat of Iran," he said. "We agreed that the mullahs must not have nuclear weapons and also agreed that Iran's aggression in the region must be rolled back."

Rubio said: "Behind every terrorist group, behind every act of violence, behind every destabilizing activity, behind everything that threatens peace and stability for the millions of people that call this region home is Iran."

Israeli-Iranian enmity stretches back decades through a history of clandestine wars and attacks by land, sea, air and cyberspace.

Iran, which says it is enriching uranium for peaceful purposes, has also backed armed groups across the Middle East that describe themselves as the "Axis of Resistance" to Israel and US influence in the region.

The Axis includes not only Hamas, the Palestinian group that ignited the Gaza war by attacking Israel in October 2023, but also the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon, the Houthi militias in Yemen, various Shiite armed groups in Iraq and Syria.

Over the 16 months since the Gaza war erupted, Israel has assassinated top leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah and Israel and Iran have exchanged limited retaliatory attacks.

Netanyahu said Israel had dealt a "mighty blow" to Iran since the start of the war in Gaza and said that with the support of US President Donald Trump "I have no doubt we can and will finish the job".

Thanking Rubio for "unequivocal backing" for Israel's policy in Gaza, Netanyahu said Israel and the United States under Trump shared a common strategy in the Palestinian enclave, where a fragile ceasefire is in effect.

"I want to assure everyone who's now listening to us, President Trump and I are working in full cooperation and coordination between us," he said.

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World

Nearly 400 Would-be Migrants Rescued Off Greek Island

A woman looks at sunset on Christmas Day, at a southern coastal suburb in Athens, Greece, December 25, 2025. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki
A woman looks at sunset on Christmas Day, at a southern coastal suburb in Athens, Greece, December 25, 2025. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki
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Nearly 400 Would-be Migrants Rescued Off Greek Island

A woman looks at sunset on Christmas Day, at a southern coastal suburb in Athens, Greece, December 25, 2025. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki
A woman looks at sunset on Christmas Day, at a southern coastal suburb in Athens, Greece, December 25, 2025. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki

The Greek coastguard on Friday rescued nearly 400 would-be migrants from a fishing boat and another vessel off southern Crete, ANA news agency reported.

In one operation about 35 nautical miles from the small island of Gavdos, off Crete, a coastguard vessel, a Danish freighter and a helicopter took 365 people off a fishing boat, according to the agency.

Earlier about 30 people were moved onto a Frontex European frontier agency boat, about 25 nautical miles from Gavdos. They were taken to Crete, AFP reported.

Some 39 people on a rubber dinghy were rescued on Thursday just south of Crete.

The sea between Türkiye and Greece and Libya to Greece are popular routes for undocumented migrants trying to reach Europe.

There are many accidents however. Seventeen bodies, mainly Egyptians and Sudanese, were found and another 15 people were believed missing after one their vessel capsized this month.

World

Israel Becomes 1st Country to Recognize Somaliland as 'Sovereign State'

FILE PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem, December 22, 2025. ABIR SULTAN/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem, December 22, 2025. ABIR SULTAN/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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Israel Becomes 1st Country to Recognize Somaliland as 'Sovereign State'

FILE PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem, December 22, 2025. ABIR SULTAN/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem, December 22, 2025. ABIR SULTAN/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Israel on Friday formally recognized Somaliland as an "independent and sovereign state" and signed an agreement to establish diplomatic ties, as the region's leader hailed its first-ever official recognition.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "announced today the official recognition of the Republic of Somaliland as an independent and sovereign state,” his office said, making Israel the first country to do so.

"The declaration is in the spirit of the Abraham Accords," Netanyahu's office said, referring to several agreements between Israel and Arab countries brokered by US President Donald Trump during his first presidency.

Netanyahu said Israel would seek immediate cooperation with Somaliland in agriculture, health, technology and the economy. In a statement he congratulated Somaliland's president, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, praised his leadership and invited him to visit Israel.

Abdullahi, hailed the move, saying it marked the beginning of a "strategic partnership.”

"This is a historic moment as we warmly welcome... the Prime Minister of the State of Israel's recognition of the Republic of Somaliland and affirm Somaliland's readiness to join the Abraham Accords," normalizing relations with Israel, he posted on X.

He said Somaliland was committed to ⁠building partnerships, boosting mutual prosperity and promoting stability across the Middle East and Africa.

Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia in 1991, has for decades pushed for international recognition, the key priority for Abdullahi since he took office last year.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the two countries had agreed to establish "full diplomatic ties, which will include the appointment of ambassadors and the opening of embassies.”

"I have instructed my ministry to act immediately to institutionalize ties between the two countries across a wide range of fields," he said in a statement on X.

World

14 Injured in Japan After Stabbing, Liquid Spray Attack, Official Says

This photo taken on November 28, 2025 shows the view from the lobby of a high-rise building in Tokyo. (AFP)
This photo taken on November 28, 2025 shows the view from the lobby of a high-rise building in Tokyo. (AFP)
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14 Injured in Japan After Stabbing, Liquid Spray Attack, Official Says

This photo taken on November 28, 2025 shows the view from the lobby of a high-rise building in Tokyo. (AFP)
This photo taken on November 28, 2025 shows the view from the lobby of a high-rise building in Tokyo. (AFP)

Fourteen people were injured in a stabbing attack in a factory in central Japan during which an unspecified liquid was also sprayed, an emergency services official said on Friday.

"Fourteen people are subject to transportation by emergency services," Tomoharu Sugiyama, a firefighting department official in the city of Mishima, in Shizuoka region, told AFP.

He said a call was received at about 4.30 pm (0730 GMT) from a nearby rubber factory saying "five or six people were stabbed by someone" and that a "spray-like liquid" had also been used.

Japanese media, including public broadcaster NHK, reported that police had arrested a man on suspicion of attempted murder.

The Asahi Shimbun daily quoted investigative sources as saying that the man in his 30s was someone connected to the factory.

He was wearing what appeared to be a gas mask, the newspaper and other media said.

Asahi also said that he was apparently armed with what it described as a survival knife.
NHK said the man told police that he was 38 years old.

The seriousness of the injuries was unknown, although NHK said all victims remained conscious.

Sugiyama said at least six of the 14 victims had been sent to hospital in a fleet of ambulances. The exact nature of the injuries was also unclear.

The factory in Mishima is run by Yokohama Rubber Co., whose business includes manufacturing tires for trucks and buses, according to its corporate website.

Violent crime is relatively rare in Japan, which has a low murder rate and some of the world's toughest gun laws.

However, there are occasional stabbing attacks and even shootings, including the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe in 2022.

A Japanese man was sentenced to death in October for a shooting and stabbing rampage that killed four people, including two police officers, in 2023.

A 43-year-old man was also charged with attempted murder in May over a knife attack at Tokyo's Toda-mae metro station.

Japan remains shaken by the memory of a major subway attack in 1995 when members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult released sarin gas on trains, killing 14 people and making more than 5,800 ill.

On March 20, 1995, five members of the Aum cult dropped bags of Nazi-developed sarin nerve agent inside morning commuter trains on March 20, 1995, piercing the pouches with sharpened umbrella tips before fleeing.