United Nations to launch $2.8bn aid appeal for Gaza | BBC News

UK Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron arrived in Jerusalem for talks with Israel's leaders about their response to Iran's drone and missile attack over the weekend. He is also expected to discuss the continuing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The United Nations is

launch

ing a $2.8 billion

appeal

to provide aid. to the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, with 90% of the money going to Gaza as Israel continues to meet to decide how and when it could respond to the missile and drone attack by Iran, the US and the EU seek to impose new sanctions on Iran, the White House has said they will attack Iran's missile and drone program and the EU's foreign policy.

EU foreign policy chief Joseph Barell said the bloc was working on a sanctions plan after several EU

nations

called for a tough response. Let's get the latest from our diplomatic correspondent James Landel. Who is in Jerusalem? James, welcome. What can we expect from David Cameron's visit there? Well, I hope it continues the message of restraint that Western leaders have been calling for since Iran attacked this country with missiles and drones over the weekend. The Prime Minister had a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last night in which he said that escalation was not in anyone's interest, it would only deepen insecurity in the region, it was time for calm to prevail and so was that message.

I think the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary will also be talking to the Israelis about what more they can do to get aid to Gaza. That's something that I think the focus has shifted away from because of the attention on Iran and me. I also think that the Foreign Secretary is going to try to put some of the pressure back on those talks to try to get a ceasefire in Gaza by saying, look, you know it's up to Hamas to agree to a deal, so I think those are the areas that will probably discuss when he meets with Israeli leaders and also with Palestinian leaders in the occupied West Bank James, what else do we know about the possible sanctions that the US and EU are discussing on Iran?

Well, the Americans said yesterday that they are going to introduce new sanctions on Iran specifically for attacking the supply chains that allow Iran to build drones and its missiles. The EU is also talking about there being a G7 foreign ministers meeting in Italy later today which David Cameron, Lord Cameron, will also be at. We're going to talk about that as well, so I think there's an attempt to try to maintain this Coalition of Support for Israel that has grown as a result of the Iran attack over the weekend and try to get it up and running if you like and say, look What we see is what we can do to put more pressure, both diplomatic and economic, on Iran as a result, but remember that sanctions take a long time to have any practical impact, so in the short term it is purely about positioning. political and to put more pressure on Tran.

James, thank you. Well, let's talk to Ammen Saal now. Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the Australian National University. Welcome. Thank you very much for being with us. Let's start with Iran, several days after its attack on Israel. What is your opinion? In Iran, from the upper echelons and those who were behind this decision to attack Israel directly, do you think they see this as a success? Well, from their perspective, it's been a success because they basically wanted to restore deterrence and at the same time send a very strong response. strong signal to Israel that Iran is not a paper tiger and is prepared to protect its assets in the region because the Iranian attack was largely a retaliation for Israel's bombing of the Iranian consulate in Damascus, but at the same time Iran has made it clear that he is not there to open a big war with Israel and the retaliation was very measured and didn't really cause much damage to Israel and only targeted military bases, but of course.

Israel was not able to deal with the Iranian missiles and drones alone; in fact, many of those shells were shot down by the Americans and the British and of course also, to some extent, the Jordanians, so also the Iranian attack in some ways. showed Israel's vulnerability, in other words, Israel is no longer an invincible power and therefore the only power in the region and the Iranians have really taken a stand. Yes, you say you were very measured, you crossed a red line by directly attacking Israel for the first time. and you also say to restore deterrence, but we do not know what the Israeli response will be and there are those who call for a direct attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, right?

So it could still escalate and it is a risk that the Iran regime is absolutely willing to accept, but now it depends on what Israel is going to do and if Israel wants to attack Iranian military and nuclear facilities and oil resources, then obviously that will result in a much greater escalation of violence. In this conflict, the Iranian side has made it clear that it will respond to any Israeli attack in a much harsher manner than in the past, and therefore the stage is truly set for the expansion of this conflict unless Israel restrains itself and Of course, this is what the United States and also some of its allies, including Britain, are trying to do to basically, you know, ask Israel not to retaliate or at least not to retaliate in a way that could result in the expansion of the conflict.

Doesn't this leave Iran increasingly isolated and under pressure at home? We saw Jordan participate in shooting down some of those drones. Have we not seen any of those regional allies come out in support or regional countries come out in support? Iran and the people of Iran are also under economic pressure and of course they have increased protests against the regime over the last 18 months, so actually the regime is not under more pressure, well the regime is under pressure and , uh, but I don't think the regime really expected the Arab countries or, for that matter, Jordan, to really support the Iranian actions.

I think the regime is fully aware that it does not have the love of everyone in the region, but it does. It is supported by Russia and it is supported by China. Iran has very close strategic ties with these two powers and at the same time has many assets and a region that it can use against Israel and against Israel's international supporters if they so choose. to get involved in the Israeli LED war against Iran I'm in cycle thanks the United Nations has expressed concern about the escalation of violence in the occupied West Bank comes after a wave of attacks sparked by the murder of an Israeli teenager the UN has charged Israel security forces actively involved in attacks on Palestinians by Jewish settlers The vast majority of the international community considers the settlements illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this here Hugo takes CAU on CCTV a man setting fire to a car as Israeli settlers raid Palestinian village In the occupied West Bank, Israeli soldiers watch outside and appear to do nothing throughout the West Bank at the weekend, Israeli settlers caused a ruckus in this village of M, near Ramallah, on Saturday The settlers burned houses and cars and killed a man, Jihad Abu alyah.

He was 25 years old and planned to get married in June. Jihad was trying to stop the settlers from breaking down the door of Sam's house, where dozens of town residents came to the house to stop them from burning the house down. It was not the first time that the settlers attacked us but we did not expect a large number of them the violence was provoked by The disappearance of this 14-year-old Israeli boy Bamin aim disappeared on Friday and a day later he was found dead the Israeli army says he was killed attacks show how tensions in the West Bank are rising since the Hamas attacks on October 7 more than 460 Palestinians and 13 Israelis have been killed if nothing changes there will be even more violence for this campaign and monitoring of settlement activity the situation is unprecedented.

I think the level of violence is the highest I can remember. They also feel a lot of support from the government and probably the public. They tell the public that their violence is necessary against the evil that is the Palestinians. It is not. only settler violence is increasing the Israeli army raids have intensified killing many Palestinians the Israeli army says it is investigating the incident caught on CCTV but throughout the West Bank many Palestinians live in fear and wonder when the next attack will occur Hugo bases BBC News Jerusalem