Israel will respond militarily to Iran’s attack, British official says

Britain’s top diplomat said Wednesday that Israel intends to respond with military force to Iran’s attack last weekend.

The comments from British Foreign Secretary David Cameron come as the U.K., U.S. and other nations are urging restraint from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to prevent the Israel-Iran conflict from escalating into a major regional war.

Mr. Cameron spoke to reporters in Israel after a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday. He said the situation in the Middle East was “very concerning.”

“Israel is an independent, sovereign country and gets to make these choices,” Mr. Cameron said. “We continue to hope that as they do so, they do so in a way that is smart as well as tough.”

Mr. Cameron said the world must show solidarity with Israel after the unprecedented attack from Tehran, even while encouraging Jerusalem to moderate their response and do as little as possible to escalate the ongoing conflict. Mr. Cameron said the focus needs to be on the hostages taken by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas during its Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Hamas is financially and logistically backed by Iran.

“We need the hostages out,” Mr. Cameron said. “There is a good deal for [Hamas] on the table. The only reason the conflict continues in Gaza is because they won’t take that deal.”

He said the U.K. has levied several sanctions against individual Iranian officials and separately against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Mr. Cameron said he would like a coordinated effort to hold them accountable.

“There’s more that we can do to show a united front that Iran is behind so much of the malign activity in this region,” Mr. Cameron told the British Sky News channel.

Iran last weekend fired more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel. Tehran said the attack was a direct response to an April 1 strike on the Iranian embassy complex in Damascus, Syria, which was widely believed to have been carried out by Israel. Israeli officials said this week that their nation will respond to the Iranian attack