From the EU “condemnation in the strongest of terms” of Iran’s missile attack on Israel. Tel Aviv moves new troops into Lebanon

Brussels – “Condemnation in the strongest of terms” for an action that is a “serious threat to regional stability.” EU leaders choose their words and point the finger at the missile attack launched last night (Oct. 1) by Iran against Israel. This time, no member country stands aside – the same as the other night when the Israeli military struck in Lebanon – and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, can declare on behalf of the 27 member states that “the EU reaffirms its commitment to Israel’s security.”

After repeated threats in recent days, and as US intelligence predicted a few hours in advance, the regime in Tehran fired some 200 ballistic missiles toward Israeli territory. With support from Washington and London, Israel intercepted most of the missiles that did not appear to have caused any major damage to property or people. But they inevitably triggered a new escalation between Tel Aviv and Tehran.

“Iran made a big mistake tonight and will pay the price. We will abide by what we have established: whoever attacks us, we will attack them,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately announced. On the other hand, Tehran responded that it would react “with greater intensity” by attacking “all Israeli infrastructure” in case of military retaliation by Israel. According to the Iranian General Staff, “90 percent of the missiles” would have reached their targets. In a post on X, newly appointed President Masoud Pezeshkian declared that “the decisive response to the aggression of the Zionist regime” was launched “based on legitimate rights and with the goal of peace and security for Iran and the region.” He then warned, “Do not enter into conflict with Iran.”

This morning, the Israel Defense Forces announced that additional troops were heading into southern Lebanon to expand the ground invasion, and they have resumed striking southern Beirut. According to the Times of Israel, more than 100 rockets were fired from Lebanon toward northern Israel. Each military demonstration is followed by a new one, heavier than the previous one, in a whirlwind of destruction that now affects the entire region. From the Iranian point of view, Israel violated the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic in April when it bombed Tehran’s embassy in Damascus and that of Lebanon by invading the south of the country and launching the offensive against Hezbollah, whose military wing Iran funds. In Israel’s logic, it all started on Oct. 7, with terrorist attacks perpetrated by Hamas and rocket launches by Hezbollah, and it is merely exercising its right to self-defense.

EU heavyweights “strongly condemned” Iran’s attack. Ursula von der Leyen has “urged all parties to protect the lives of innocent civilians,” reiterating calls for “a ceasefire at the Lebanese border and in Gaza, and the release of all hostages held for nearly a year.” Charles Michel spoke of a “deadly spiral of escalation in the Middle East” of “a regional war that is in no one’s interest.” Borrell, in a note on behalf of the 27 EU countries, said we are faced “once again” with “a dangerous cycle of attacks and retaliation” that “risks spiraling out of control in a regional escalation that is in no one’s interest.”

On Sept. 30, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said, “Prime Minister Netanyahu claims that Israel is surrounded by enemies who want to destroy it. With the mandate of 57 Arab and Muslim countries, I can say unequivocally that we all want to ensure Israel’s security if Israel ends the occupation and allows the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.” However – as is well known – the Israeli government strongly opposes the two-state solution. Safadi pressed the international community, “Can you ask Netanyahu what their solution is? Other than new wars and new destruction?”

A part from the already forgotten Biden plan for a ceasefire in Gaza, for now, the United States has unconditionally supported the Israeli military action. The EU is motionless, caged in the different sensitivities and political convictions of the 27 member states on a conflict that is also highly ideological. On the indefensible Iranian regime, Brussels already has dozens of sanctions, for human rights abuses, for its nuclear program and for military support to Russia and extremist groups in the Middle East. However, on Netanyahu’s government, which accuses anyone who points out Israel’s blatant violations of international law in Gaza as in the West Bank and Lebanon, of anti-Semitism, the EU is standing still. At the request, put aside by Tel Aviv, to convene an Association Council to discuss respect for human rights under the EU-Israel Agreement.