Jerusalem, Jan 25 (Representative) Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat said on Wednesday that Iran has become a “legitimate target” for Israel’s missile strikes for supporting armed movements opposing Israel. “Iran is a legitimate target for Israel… The head of the snake is in Tehran. My recommendation is to adopt the strategy that US President John F. Kennedy used in the Cuban missile crisis. What he basically said then was that a missile from Cuba would be answered with a missile from Moscow. And we should very clearly make sure the Iranians understand that they will not get away with using proxies against Israel,” Barkat said in an interview with The Telegraph.Barkat told the newspaper that Israel could afford to keep fighting and open up a new front with Lebanon despite military spending of over $250 million a day. He also said that the war in Gaza had not been fought “aggressively enough.”
The minister went on to say that Palestinians from the West Bank will never be permitted to work in Israel again and that over 250,000 foreign labourers will be hired instead. On October 7, the Palestinian movement Hamas launched a large-scale rocket attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip while its fighters breached the border, opening fire on the military and civilians. As a result, over 1,200 people in Israel were killed, and some 240 others were abducted. Israel launched retaliatory strikes, ordered a complete blockade of Gaza, and launched a ground incursion into the Palestinian enclave with the declared goal of eliminating Hamas fighters and rescuing the hostages. Over 20,000 people have been killed so far in Gaza as a result of Israeli strikes, local authorities said. On November 24, Qatar mediated a deal between Israel and Hamas on a temporary truce and the exchange of some of the prisoners and hostages, as well as the delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. The ceasefire was extended several times and expired on December 1.