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Biden Again Warns Iran Against Attacking Israel: ‘Don’t’

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event at Pullman Yards in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. March 9, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

JNS.orgJoe Biden delivered another “don’t” when asked by reporters what his message to Iran was as the US president was walking out of a church and entering his vehicle in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware on Saturday.

Tehran has vowed to retaliate against the Jewish state for the targeted killing of Hamas terror leader Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital on July 31. Jerusalem has not taken responsibility for the assassination, but the Islamic Republic and Hamas have attributed it to Israel.

Biden previously said “don’t” to deter Israel’s enemies in the days after the Oct. 7 Hamas-led massacre in the northwestern Negev. The president also used the word to warn Iran against an attack against Israel in mid-April.

Iran’s Lebanese terror proxy Hezbollah has carried out near daily cross-border attacks since Oct. 8, and Tehran launched more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel the day after Biden’s previous warning.

Meanwhile, Iran appears intent on going ahead with its second-ever direct attack on Israel, with the timing and nature of the retaliation still uncertain.

Hezbollah has also vowed to attack Israel, in retaliation for the July 30th targeted killing of senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut, for which Jerusalem took responsibility. The assassination was in retaliation for a Hezbollah rocket strike on a soccer pitch that killed 12 children in the Golan Druze town of Majdal Shams.

Ahmed Bahsheesh Ardestani, a member of the National Security Committee of the Iranian Parliament, said overnight Saturday that “the air operations of the Islamic Republic against Israel may last for three to four days,” according to the London-based Iran International news agency.

Ardestani added that Tehran “is ready to accept the consequences of such an attack and will be ready for any further developments.”

An Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps deputy commander, Ali Fadavi, was quoted by Iranian media on Friday as saying that Israel will receive a “harsh punishment” for the Haniyeh assassination.

“The supreme leader’s orders regarding the harsh punishment of Israel and revenge for the blood of martyr Ismail Haniyeh are clear and explicit … and they will be implemented in the best possible way,” he said.

Asked by reporters to respond to Fadavi’s remarks, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the United States was ready to defend Israel.

“When we hear rhetoric like that we’ve got to take it seriously, and we do,” Kirby said.

Should an Iranian attack take place, Jordan will allow Israel to use its airspace to fend off any aerial threats, a Jordanian official told Channel 12 on Saturday.

 “We will allow Israel to repel the Iranian attack in our airspace,” the official said, adding that “it stems from a security interest and this is the policy, just as in April Jordan helped Israel stop the Iranian attack. It is ultimately an ally of the United States.”

The inter-Arab news site, Arab Post, also reported from Jordanian security sources that “the authorities in Jordan have informed Israel that they will allow its air force to intercept the expected Iranian attack in the kingdom’s airspace.”

The sources added: “There is security, military and intelligence coordination between Jordan and Israel regarding the expected Iranian response, which ensures that the Israeli Air Force is authorized to participate in intercepting potential Iranian attacks that may pass through the kingdom’s skies.”

The reports contradict Jordan’s public declarations in the media that it won’t allow its airspace to be used by any party.

On April 13, the Royal Jordanian Air Force participated in a coalition that helped shoot down most of the 300 missiles and drones fired towards Israel as part of Iran’s first-ever direct attack on the Jewish state.

Amman, a frequent and harsh critic of Israel’s war against Hamas, intercepted dozens of drones hurtling through its airspace towards Israel.

Meanwhile, Lebanese media reported on Saturday that Arab states, including Qatar, have sent messages to Iran and Hezbollah to delay or cancel the planned attacks at least until after Gaza ceasefire and hostage release negotiations take place in either Doha or Cairo on Aug. 15.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations said on Friday that the response to Israel is “a matter totally unrelated” to the attempts to broker a ceasefire in the 10-month war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

“However, we hope that our response will be timed and conducted in a manner not to the detriment of the potential ceasefire,” the mission said when asked if Tehran would delay the attack until after the ceasefire talks.

“Our priority is to establish a lasting ceasefire in Gaza; any agreement accepted by Hamas will also be recognized by us,” said Iran’s UN mission in New York.

US, Egyptian and Qatari leaders released a statement on Aug. 8 calling jointly for an immediate conclusion to talks between Israel and Hamas about a ceasefire and hostage release agreement.

“It is time to bring immediate relief both to the long-suffering people of Gaza as well as the long-suffering hostages and their families,” the three stated. “The time has come to conclude the ceasefire and hostages and detainees release deal.”

The statement, signed by Biden, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, called on both sides to resume urgent talks on Aug. 15 in either Doha or Cairo.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office stated almost immediately that it would send a negotiating delegation next Thursday. “Pursuant to the proposal by the US and the mediators, Israel will—on Aug. 15—send the negotiations team to a place to be determined in order to finalize the details of the implementation of the framework agreement,” it said.

The post Biden Again Warns Iran Against Attacking Israel: ‘Don’t’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War

Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.

Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.

“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”

GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’

Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.

“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.

“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.

“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.

After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”

RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL

Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”

Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.

“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”

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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests

A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco

Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.

People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.

“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”

Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.

On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.

Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.

On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.

“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.

Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.

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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan

Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.

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