Israel Wants to 'Hurt' Iran without Causing All-out War

An Israeli Air Force fighter at an unidentified airport on Sunday (AFP)
An Israeli Air Force fighter at an unidentified airport on Sunday (AFP)
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Israel Wants to 'Hurt' Iran without Causing All-out War

An Israeli Air Force fighter at an unidentified airport on Sunday (AFP)
An Israeli Air Force fighter at an unidentified airport on Sunday (AFP)

The Israeli war cabinet decided to respond to Iran “without causing an all-out war,” after Benjamin Netanyahu’s government discussed “a wide range of options,” developed by Israeli army commanders, to strike in retaliation for the Iranian missile attack on Saturday.

Israeli Army Chief of Staff General Herzi Halevi said on Monday that Israel would respond to the attack. Speaking from the Nevatim air base in southern Israel, which suffered some damage in the attack, he added: “This launching of many missiles, cruise missiles and drones on Israeli territory will be met with a response.”

The Israeli Channel 12 reported that the war cabinet discussed a set of options at its meeting, Monday, with the aim of harming Iran after its attack with drones and missiles on Israel, but without causing a comprehensive war.

In a report, the channel said that Israel’s intention was to initiate action in coordination with the United States, which said would not participate with Israel in any direct attack on Iran.

Early on Tuesday, Israeli army spokesman Peter Lerner told reporters that military officials had presented the government with a range of options for responding to the Iranian strike on Israel.

He added that Israel’s response may or may not involve a military strike, pointing to many different scenarios between these two options, according to the American ABC News network.

Israel remains on high alert, but the authorities have canceled some emergency measures, including bans on some school activities and restrictions on large gatherings.

Two Israeli sources told CNN on Monday that the war cabinet was studying military options to respond to the Iranian attack, including targeting an Iranian facility while avoiding casualties. In addition to the possible military response, the Israeli war cabinet is also studying diplomatic options to increase Iran’s isolation on the global stage, according to CNN.

The two sources, who were not named by the news network, reported that Israel was about to take its first steps towards launching a ground attack on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip this week, but postponed those plans while it was considering a response to the recent Iranian strike.

Meanwhile, the Russian Interfax agency reported that Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the Russian National Security Council, discussed the escalating tensions in the Middle East with the head of the Israeli National Security Council, Tzachi Hanegbi.

The agency quoted the Russian Security Council as saying that Patrushev indicated the need for all parties to exercise restraint to prevent escalation of the conflict. The Kremlin said earlier, on Monday, that it was deeply concerned about the escalation of tensions in the Middle East following the attack launched by Iran with missiles and drones on Israel.



UN-backed Team Focusing on Human Rights in Palestinian Areas Announce Resignations

Chair of the Commission Navi Pillay delivers her statement of the report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, during the 56th session of the Human Rights Council, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP, File)
Chair of the Commission Navi Pillay delivers her statement of the report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, during the 56th session of the Human Rights Council, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP, File)
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UN-backed Team Focusing on Human Rights in Palestinian Areas Announce Resignations

Chair of the Commission Navi Pillay delivers her statement of the report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, during the 56th session of the Human Rights Council, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP, File)
Chair of the Commission Navi Pillay delivers her statement of the report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, during the 56th session of the Human Rights Council, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP, File)

A team of three independent experts working for the UN's top human rights body with a focus on Israel and Palestinian areas say they are resigning, citing personal reasons and a need for change, in the panel's first such group resignation.

The resignations, announced Monday by the UN-backed Human Rights Council that set up the team, come as violence continues in Palestinian areas with few signs of letup in the Israeli military campaign against Hamas and other militants behind the Oct. 7 attacks.

The Israeli government has repeatedly criticized the panel of experts, known as the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, and denied their repeated requests to travel to the region or otherwise cooperate with the team, The AP news reported.

Council spokesman Pascal Sim said the move marked the first joint resignations of Commission of Inquiry members since the council was founded in 2006. The team said in a statement that the resignations had “absolutely nothing to do with any external event or pressure," while also saying they provided a good opportunity to reconstitute the panel.

Navi Pillay, 83, a former UN human rights chief who has led the commission for the last four years, said in a letter to the council president that she was resigning effective Nov. 3 because of “age, medical issues and the weight of several other commitments.”

In an interview, Pillay rejected accusations from critics who accused her of antisemitism or turning a blind eye to the Hamas attacks. She recalled how she worked closely with some Jewish lawyers in the fight against apartheid in her native South Africa and was invited to Israel as the UN rights chief from 2008 to 2014.

"Name-calling is not affecting me in any way,” she said by phone. “We have striven to remain independent. That’s what we are. We’re an independent panel. We don’t take sides ... We look at the evidence and see the direction it’s taking us.”

“People who accuse us of being anti-Semitic ... they twist the facts, they invent facts, falsify facts. I would like to see them challenge the report: Which of the facts that we have set out are incorrect?” she said.

Her commission condemned the Oct. 7 attacks three days afterward in a news release that said at the time that reports "that armed groups from Gaza have gunned down hundreds of unarmed civilians are abhorrent and cannot be tolerated. Taking civilian hostages and using civilians as human shields are war crimes.”

She expressed regret that Israel didn't allow the commission access to Israel or Palestinian areas, saying "I feel that’s an injustice to Israeli Jews because we’re not taking on board their opinion or what they’re saying.”

Pillay said she had been recently diagnosed with low platelet count and her condition has restricted her ability to travel.

Her team said it wanted to give the rights council's president — currently Ambassador Jürg Lauber of Switzerland — the ability to pick new members.

Team member Chris Sidoti said Pillay's retirement marked “an appropriate time to re-constitute the commission.” The third member, Miloon Kothari, did not provide his reasons in a letter announcing his resignation effective 0ct. 31.

Neither the independent experts nor the council have any power over countries, but aim to spotlight rights abuses and collect information about suspected perpetrators that could be used by the International Criminal Court or other courts focusing on international justice.

The letters were sent to the council president last week but only became public Monday.

Last week, the US government announced sanctions against another independent expert mandated by the council, Francesca Albanese, who has also focused on Israel and the Palestinians. Albanese has accused Israel of genocide against the Palestinians, a claim Israel has denied.

Albanese said in an interview last week with The Associated Press that she was shocked by the US decision. She has not resigned.