'India Condemns Hamas Attack as Terrorism, Concerned About Middle East Tensions': S Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday that India views Hamas’s attack on Israel (on October 7 last year) as a “terrorist attack”, and that India is “very much” concerned about the conflict in the Middle East. Jaishankar also said Israel needed to respond and that India believes that any response by any country has to take into account international humanitarian law.

“If one looks at the current situation, I think it would be right to start with October 7. We regard October 7 as a terrorist attack. We understand that Israel needed to respond, but we also believe that any response by any country has to take into account international humanitarian law and that it must be careful about any damage or implications for civilian populations,” the minister said, at the conversation at the Carnegie Endowment in Washington.

“It is important to have some kind of international humanitarian effort. We are concerned at the possibility of a broadening of the conflict, not just what happened in Lebanon, but also to the Houthis and the Red Sea, and to anything that happens between Iran and Israel,” he added.

“Don’t underestimate the importance of communication in difficult times. If there are things to be said and passed on and back, I think those are all contributions that we can make, and we do,” Jaishankar said hours before Iran fired missiles into Israel later the same evening.

In October last year, Israel launched a counter-offensive against Hamas after hundreds of terrorists burst into Israeli borders, killing over 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages, out of which 100 continue to be in captivity.

Notably, India has backed a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict and has repeatedly expressed concerns over the deteriorating situation in Gaza.

IRAN FIRES MISSILES INTO ISRAEL

On Tuesday evening, Iran launched at least 180 missiles into Israel, the latest in a series of escalating attacks in a year-long conflict between Israel and Iran and its Arab allies that threatens to push the Middle East closer toward a region-wide war.

The orange glow of missiles streaked across Israel’s night sky as air raid sirens sounded and residents scrambled into bomb shelters. Israel vowed retaliation for Iran’s barrage, which it said had caused only a few injuries, The Associated Press reported.

Before Iran’s attack, Israel had landed a series of devastating blows in recent weeks against the leadership of Hezbollah in Lebanon. It then ratcheted up the pressure on the Iran-backed militant group — which has been firing rockets into Israel since the war in Gaza began — by launching what it said is a limited ground incursion in southern Lebanon.