Defence minister says Israel has right to defend itself in 'proportional way'
Defence Minister Bill Blair says Israel has the right to defend itself in 鈥渁 calibrated and proportional way鈥 following Iran鈥檚 ballistic missile attack against Israel on Tuesday.
鈥淚 think (retaliation) needs to be carefully considered because that isn't the purpose of military response from Israel, but rather to diminish Iran's ability to continue to attack them,鈥 Blair said in an interview with CTV Power Play host Vassy Kapelos on Thursday.
When it comes to the extent of the retaliation, Blair said Israel has a right 鈥渢o knock those missiles down from the sky鈥 and 鈥渢arget the source of those missiles.鈥
But when asked by Kapelos if those targets include Iran鈥檚 oil infrastructure or nuclear facilities, Blair said 鈥渘o.鈥
鈥淔rankly, we're not endorsing and supporting retaliation against other targets,鈥 Blair said. 鈥淥nly at those targets that might be necessary for Israel to defend itself against further attack.鈥
On Thursday, U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters the U.S. is discussing with Israel the possibility of Israeli strikes on Iran鈥檚 oil facilities.
"We're in discussion of that. I think that would be a little, anyway,鈥 Biden said.
Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militant group, have steadily escalated since the war broke out nearly one year ago between Israel and Hamas, who is also backed by Iran.
Iran鈥檚 missile strikes against Israel on Tuesday was retaliation for recent killings of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders.
The latest attacks have sparked concerns of a wider regional war in the Middle East.
Speaking to reporters in Paris on Thursday on the sidelines of the Francophonie Summit, Foreign Affairs Minister M茅lanie Joly reiterated Canada鈥檚 call for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
鈥淲e absolutely need to make sure that this does not become a full-scale war, and that's why we need a ceasefire,鈥 Joly said.
Joly also said she spoke to her Israeli counterpart on Thursday, saying she delivered that same message.
You can watch the full interview with Defence Minister Bill Blair at the top of this article.
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