The British ambassador says Israel is “deciding to act.”

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JERUSALEM – British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said on Wednesday that Israel was “deciding to act” in response to Iran's missile and drone attacks over the weekend, while Iran warned that even the “smallest” incursion into its territory would have “massive and huge consequences”. harsh” answer.

Israel has vowed not to decide when or how to respond to Iran's unprecedented attack, leaving the region poised for further escalation after months of unrest over the ongoing war in Gaza. Israel's closest allies, including the United States and the United Kingdom – which have helped it repel Iranian attacks – are trying to limit further escalation.

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Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi warned Israel against any retaliation in a speech at the annual army parade, which was moved from its usual route to the barracks and not broadcast live on state television – out of fear of possible targeting.

In a statement by Iran's official IRNA news agency, Raisi said Saturday's attack was limited and that “there will be nothing left of the Zionist regime” if Iran wants to launch a bigger attack.

Adding to already high tensions, a rocket attack by Lebanese Hezbollah on a border town in northern Israel on Wednesday wounded 13 people, four seriously, Israel's rescue service, Magen David Adom, said. The Iranian-backed militant group said it was in retaliation for the killing of a number of its fighters, including its commander, in Israeli strikes on Lebanon a day earlier.

Both Cameron and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock made separate trips to Israel on Wednesday to meet with senior officials. Two European countries, some of Israel's closest allies, called for calm.

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Cameron said the Israelis are “obviously making a decision to act against Iran”, but he hoped they would do so “in a way that is smart and tough and does as little as possible to escalate this conflict”. He spoke after a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, whose office is largely ceremonial.

Cameron said the focus of his visit was to call attention to the ongoing war and ceasefire in Gaza and the need to free people held by Hamas.

Berbock said Germany would “cooperate fully with Israel” but urged it to remain calm.

“Now everyone should act carefully and responsibly. I'm not talking about surrender. I am talking about caution as much as effort,” he told reporters. “Because Israel showed their strength with their defensive victory over the weekend.”

The ministers said that they will demand further introduction of international sanctions against Iran.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with both ministers and thanked them for their country's support.

“They have various suggestions and advice. I appreciate that. But I want to be clear: we make our own decisions and the State of Israel will do whatever it takes to defend itself,” Netanyahu said in a statement.

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In response to Israel's April 1 attack on the Iranian embassy in Syria, Iran fired hundreds of missiles and drones into Israel over the weekend, killing 12 people, including two Iranian generals.

With the help of the US, Britain, neighboring Jordan and other countries, Israel says it has successfully intercepted almost all of the missiles and drones. A seven-year-old girl was injured in the attack, which did not cause any death or major damage.

Israel and Iran have been waging a shadow war for decades, but the strike over the weekend was Iran's first direct military attack on Israel.

Regional tensions escalated after an attack on southern Israel by the Iranian-backed Palestinian armed groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad on October 7. The attack killed about 1,200 Israelis, and the militants took about 250 hostages. Israel responded with one of the deadliest and most devastating military offensives in recent history, killing an estimated 34,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.

Israel has withdrawn most of its forces from Gaza after major attacks destroyed its two largest cities, Gaza City and Khan Younis. But Israeli officials say the war is far from over and they plan to send ground forces to the southernmost Gaza city of Rafah, where more than half of the country's 2.3 million residents have sought refuge from fighting elsewhere.

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Hamas is still holding about 130 hostages, a quarter of whom are believed to be dead, and international efforts for a ceasefire and the release of the hostages have made little progress.

Another close ally of Iran, Hezbollah, has opened fire almost daily along the border with Israel since the war began, amid low-intensity clashes that threaten to spark a general war. Iran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria have also carried out attacks, while Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have targeted international shipping in the Red Sea, posing as a blockade against Israel.

President Joe Biden's administration announced new sanctions on Iran on Tuesday and called on all parties to de-escalate and seek to coordinate a global response to the attack. US officials said earlier this week that Biden had told Netanyahu that Washington would not be involved in any offensive action against Iran.

Israel is unlikely to attack Iran directly without U.S. support, but it could resort to covert methods, such as targeting other Iranian commanders or Iranian-backed groups in other countries, or conducting cyberattacks.

It is unclear how Iran will respond to the escalation of tensions. Any miscalculation by either side risks the start of a regional war.

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