Volunteers prepare meals at a pub in Beirut's predominantly Christian Ashrafieh neighbourhood, to be distributed to people who fled Israeli bombardment and took refuge in Lebanese capital, on Thursday — AFP TEHRAN, Oct 17 (Reuters/AFP): The commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards warned Israel on Thursday against attacking the Islamic Republic in retaliation for a missile barrage as its arch-foe stepped up its offensive in Lebanon against Tehran-backed Hezbollah.
Fears of wider conflict have increased as Israel plans its response to the Oct 1 missile attack carried out by Iran after Israeli airstrikes on Iranian-allied militants.
"We tell you [Israel] that if you commit any aggression against any point we will painfully attack the same point of yours," Hossein Salami said in a televised speech, adding that Iran can penetrate Israel's defences.
In rare Egypt visit, Iran FM
calls for regional calm
Iran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi warned against the expansion of regional conflict during a rare meeting in Cairo Thursday.
Araghchi is the first Iranian foreign minister to visit Cairo since 2013. The stop is part of his multi-country regional tour after Israel vowed to strike back following an Iranian missile barrage against Israel on October 1.
According to a statement from Sisi's office, the pair discussed "the need to stop regional escalation" and "intensifying efforts towards ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon".
Iran's official news agency said Sisi and Araghchi "agreed on the need to intensify efforts to end the crimes in Gaza and the aggression against Lebanon, assist the displaced and prevent the expansion of the Zionist regime's warmongering reach," in a reference to Israel.
After decades of strained ties, Tehran and Cairo have undertaken a slow rapprochement in recent years, with diplomatic exchanges increasing over the past year since the outbreak of the Gaza war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas.
345,000 Gazans face
'catastrophic' hunger
this winter: UN
Some 345,000 Gazans face "catastrophic" levels of hunger this winter due to falling aid deliveries, UN agencies said Thursday, warning of the persistent risk of famine across the Palestinian territory.
This is up from the 133,000 people currently categorised as experiencing "catastrophic food insecurity", according to a classification compiled by UN agencies and NGOs.
A surge in humanitarian assistance this summer brought some relief to Gazans, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report said. But September saw the lowest volume of commercial and humanitarian supplies entering Gaza since March.
Consequently, it projected that the number of people experiencing catastrophic food insecurity-IPC Phase 5 -- between November 2024 and April 2025 would likely reach 345,000: 16 percent of the population.
The recent "sharp decline" in aid "will profoundly limit the ability of families to feed themselves and access essential goods and services in the coming months, unless reversed", the report said.
"Commercial supplies are down, there is large-scale displacement, infrastructure is decimated, agriculture has collapsed and people have no money," said Arif Husain, chief economist for the UN's World Food Programme.
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