'We understand Israel had a need to respond but...': EAM Jaishankar reacts to middle-east crisis

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar reacted to fresh middle-east crisis triggered by the attack on Israel launched by terror outfit Hamas a year ago. Jaishankar said that 'Israel had a need to respond but any response by any country has to take into account international humanitarian law.'

Speaking at the Carnegie Endowment Centre for International Peace in the United States, the union minister said, "We understand that Israel had a need to respond, but we also believe that any response by any country has to take into account international humanitarian law, that it must be careful about any damage or any implications for civilian populations", as quoted by news agency ANI. 

He emphasised that India considers Hamas attack on Israel a 'terrorist attack' and reiterated that it was the root cause of the current tensions in the middle east.

S Jaishankar further stated that India is concerened about all kinds of conflicts in West Asia. 

"Not just what happened in Lebanon, but also, you know, I referred earlier to the Houthis and the Red Sea, and, you know, to some extent, everything that happens between Iran and Israel. So again, it's one thing to be concerned. I'm sure you can say that for a lot of countries,” he said.

Iran launched around 200 missiles on Israel 

Amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, what further fuelled the tensions was the launch of missile attack by Iran on Israel on October 1, i.e., Wednesday. The missile attacks came in response to the killing of Hezbollah Chief Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on September 27. 

Israeli Prime Minister Bejamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate against Iran, saying, "Iran made a big mistake tonight - and it will pay for it". 

The missile attack marks further escalation of conflicts between the two powers, since October 7 attack which killed nearly 1,200 people and took around 250 hostage.