State media says Israeli attack on girls school in the city of Minab in the south of the country kills dozens.
This image grab taken from Iranian state television broadcasted on February 28, 2026, show what it says is the site of deadly US and Israeli strikes that hit a girls’ elementary school in Minab, in the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan near the strategic sea route of the Strait of Hormuz. [Screengrab/IRIB TV via AFP]
An Israeli strike has hit an elementary girls’ school in Minab, a city in the Hormozgan province of southern Iran, killing dozens of people, according to state media, as the immediate civilian cost from Israel and the United States’s huge bombardment of Iran comes into sharper focus.
Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim News Agency cited the Judiciary of Minab as saying that the death toll had risen to 85 after Saturday’s strike on the school.
Workers are continuing to clear wreckage from the site, where 63 others were injured on Saturday, said Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency. The strike is part of a wave of joint US-Israeli military attacks across Iran that has triggered an outbreak of regional violence.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi shared a photo of the attack, which he said destroyed the girls’ school and killed “innocent children”.
“These crimes against the Iranian People will not go unanswered,” Araghchi wrote in a post on X.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei also slammed the “blatant crime” and urged action from the United Nations Security Council.
Separately, Iran’s Mehr news agency reported that at least two students were killed by another Israeli attack that hit a school east of the capital, Tehran.
People watch as smoke rises on the skyline after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, this morning
Morning Star, 28 Feb 2026
An emergency demonstration has been called outside Downing Street for 3.30pm today to oppose war on Iran, which could escalate into regional or even world war.
Iranian media reported strikes nationwide, and smoke could be seen rising from the capital Tehran. US President Donald Trump announced the start of “major combat operations” and called for regime change in the country, urging Iranians to rise up in collaboration with the attackers.
A huge US armada has built up in the Middle East in recent weeks, larger than that assembled in the Caribbean before the US bombed Venezuela and kidnapped its president last month. Mr Trump suggested the war could be a bloody one, anticipating US casualties and saying “that often happens in war.”
Talks had been ongoing in Geneva over US insistence that Iran abandon uranium enrichment for its civil nuclear power programme, as Washington claims Iran is seeking a nuclear weapon, something it has always denied.
Mr Trump unilaterally tore up the previous agreement on Iranian nuclear power (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, signed in 2015) in 2018, and broke up negotiations on the issue last year by joining an unprovoked Israeli bombing spree as they were under way.
This year’s talks may also have been undertaken in bad faith by the United States, with an Israeli official briefing Reuters that the attacks had been planned for months and the launch date decided weeks ago.
Israel reported yesterday morning that retaliatory Iranian missiles had already begun to hit the country.
Tens of thousands of US troops — and about 4,000 British soldiers — are stationed on bases in the Middle East, which could be targeted by Iran in retaliation.
It is unclear if British bases have been used in any capacity by the US in the attacks. Reports in recent weeks have suggested British authorities objected to involvement in any attack, though Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has also indicated he would be prepared to join US aggression against Iran.
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “The attacks on Iran by Israel and the United States are illegal, unprovoked and unjustifiable.
“Peace and diplomacy was possible. Instead, Israel and the United States chose war.
“This is the behaviour of rogue states — and they have jeopardised the safety of humankind around the world with this catastrophic act of aggression.
“Our government must condemn this flagrant breach of international law, and urgently pursue a foreign policy based on justice, sovereignty and peace.”
(Photo credit: MSgt Vincent De Groot 185th ARW Public Affairs, Iowa Air National Guard)
Satellite imagery shows an increase in US military support aircraft, including refueling tankers and surveillance planes, at a Saudi airbase, Reuters reported on 27 February, amid Washington’s threats to launch a new war on Iran.
A high-resolution satellite image from 21 February showed at least 43 aircraft at Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan Airbase, a facility long used by US forces.
Four days before, satellite images showed only 27 aircraft visible. By 25 February, the number of aircraft had fallen slightly to 38.
The buildup comes one month after Riyadh claimed it would not allow the US to use its territory to stage a military attack on Iran.
The aircraft visible in the 21 February image included 13 Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers, used for aerial refueling of warplanes, and six Boeing E-3 Sentry aircraft (AWACS), used for surveillance, target detection, and tracking.
Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers were also seen on Friday at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.
US President Donald Trump last week threatened Iranian leaders, saying they must agree to a deal within 10 to 15 days. If not, “really bad things” would happen, Trump said.
Chinese commercial satellite imagery has also confirmed the deployment of 16 KC-135 aerial refueling tankers and MIM-104 Patriot air defense systems to Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
According to Military Watch Magazine, US-made warplanes such as the F-16 rely heavily on aerial refueling for operations against major state adversaries, making the use of KC-135s critical for any large-scale attack.
Military Watch observed that E-3s carry the largest airborne radars in the world and have the ability to guide missiles fired by warplanes, ships, or ground-based systems to their targets.
However, the viability of the E-3 has increasingly been called into question, amid claims that its radars and other avionics are becoming obsolete.
“This limits situational awareness, particularly against stealth targets such as Iran’s Shahed 191 drones, while also increasing vulnerability to electronic warfare,” the magazine added.
Israeli media observed that one set of Chinese commercial satellite images showed F-22 stealth fighter jets that the US had deployed the Ovda Air Base in southern Israel, where a Patriot air defense battery has also been deployed.
Other Chinese satellite images have documented the movement of US naval destroyers and aircraft carriers across the region, including the arrival of the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, in Crete.
Amid the buildup, Iranian and US negotiators met in Geneva this week for a third round of indirect talks.
On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi wrote on social media: “Further progress has been made in our diplomatic engagement with the United States.”
“This round of negotiations was the most intensive yet. The talks ended with the mutual understanding that we will continue to discuss in more detail and precision the issues that are essential to any agreement, including the lifting of sanctions and steps related to the nuclear field,” Aragchi added.
The two sides agreed to meet next week in Vienna to discuss technical details, according to Omani Foreign Minister Badr Al-Busaidi, who is mediating the talks.
As US and Israeli bombs fell on Tehran, the Iranian Foreign Ministry on Saturday vowed that the country would defend itself against “criminal aggression” and implored the United Nations Security Council to take emergency action.
The ministry said in a lengthy statement that Saturday’s attacks, which US President Donald Trump characterized as the start of a massive military operation aimed at overthrowing the Iranian government, represent “a violation of Article 2, Paragraph 4, of the United Nations Charter and a clear armed aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
“The Islamic Republic of Iran notes the grave duty of the United Nations and its Security Council to take immediate action to confront the violation of international peace and security,” reads the ministry’s statement, which noted that the US and Israeli assault began “in the midst of a diplomatic process.”
“The Iranian people are now proud that they did everything they could to prevent war,” the statement continues. “Now is the time to defend the homeland and confront the enemy’s military aggression. Just as we were ready for negotiations, we are more ready than ever for defense. The armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will respond to the aggressors with authority.”
Ben Saul, the UN special rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism, condemned US-Israeli “aggression against Iran” in a social media post, calling the assault a “violation of the most fundamental rule of international law—the ban on the use of force.”
“All responsible governments should condemn this lawlessness from two countries who excel in shredding the international order,” Saul added.
The Laurel and Hardy negotiating team of Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, coupled with Trump’s appalling ignorance of world affairs and megalomania, seem set to push the U.S. into yet another debacle in the Middle East, one the Congress has not approved, and the public does not want.
The demands imposed on Iran by the Trump White House are no more acceptable to the regime in Tehran than those imposed on Hamas in Gaza under Trump’s sham peace plan.
Trump’s demand that Iran shut down its nuclear program and give up its missile capabilities in return for no new sanctions is as tone deaf as calling on Hamas to disarm in Gaza.
But since we have long dispensed with diplomats, who are linguistically, politically and culturally literate, who can step into the shoes of their adversaries, we are being led to another war in the Middle East by our newest coterie of buffoons.
The U.S. and Israel foolishly believe they can bomb their way to decapitating the Iranian government and installing a client regime. That this non-reality-based belief system failed in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya eludes them.
The promise of no new sanctions will not incentivize Iran to broker an agreement. Iran is already crippled by onerous sanctions that have gutted its economy.
This will do nothing to break the economic stranglehold.
Iran will not give up its nuclear program, which has the potential to be weaponized, or its ballistic missile program, which Israel said it would target in an air attack.
Israel’s reputed nuclear arsenal of some 300 warheads is a powerful incentive for Iran to retain the capacity to build a nuclear arsenal of its own. Iran, like Hamas, is never going to render itself defenseless against those seeking its annihilation.
An aerial attack on Iran will not be like the 12-day assault last June against Iran’s nuclear facilities and state and security facilities.
Then Iran calibrated its response with symbolic strikes on Al Udeid air base in Qatar in the hopes that it would not lead to a wider, protracted conflict.
If an aerial assault is launched, Iran will have nothing to lose. It will understand that appeasing its adversaries is impossible.
Iran is not Iraq. Iran is not Afghanistan. Iran is not Lebanon. Iran is not Libya. Iran is not Syria. Iran is not Yemen.
Iran is the seventeenth largest country in the world, with a land mass equivalent to the size of Western Europe. It has a population of almost 90 million — 10 times greater than Israel — and its military resources, as well as alliances with China and Russia, make it a formidable opponent.
The Strait of Hormuz and the Musandam Peninsula on Dec. 6, 2018. (MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain)
Despite Iran’s relative military weakness, when set against the combined forces of the U.S. and Israel, it can inflict a lot of damage. It will do this as swiftly as possible.
Hundreds of American troops will likely be killed. Iran will certainly shut down the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil chokepoint that facilitates the passage of 20 percent of the world’s oil supply.
This will double or triple the price of oil and devastate the global economy. It will target oil installations along with U.S. ships and military bases in the region.
Mounting losses and a huge spike in oil prices will provide the fodder for Trump, and his vile counterpart in Israel, to ignite a sustained regional war.
This is the cost of being governed by imbeciles. God help us.
Chris Hedges is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist who was a foreign correspondent for 15 years for The New York Times, where he served as the Middle East bureau chief and Balkan bureau chief for the paper. He previously worked overseas for The Dallas Morning News, The Christian Science Monitor and NPR. He is the host of show “The Chris Hedges Report.”
Dr. Muhammad Al-Hindi, Deputy Secretary-General of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, told Al Jazeera Mubasher that with “every door closed,” Palestinians have only steadfastness and resistance left, dismissing Trump’s ceasefire framework and the so-called Board of Peace as political theater that grants “sovereignty for President Trump, security for Israel,” while sidelining Palestinian representation. He accused Israel and the U.S. of blocking the reconstruction of Gaza as a form of “extortion,” and rejected calls for disarmament as an “attempt at deception” that would only invite further displacement—citing the occupied West Bank as an example. Al-Hindi added that the resistance does not trust Washington and entered negotiations only to stop bloodshed. He warned that Israel is pushing for wider regional war, including with Iran, to entrench its dominance, adding that Palestinians have been, “resisting for a century, before Iran, before any “axis”—and they will continue.”
Modi’s Israel visit strengthens military and tech ties, offering Netanyahu political cover amid Gaza genocide and regional tensions.
Key Takeaways
Modi’s two-day visit to Israel centers on defense, technology, and economic cooperation while Gaza remains under devastating assault.
The Knesset address functioned as a high-visibility endorsement of Israel during mounting genocide allegations.
India is one of Israel’s most important defense and trade partners, with bilateral trade reaching $3.62 billion in 2025.
Palestinian solidarity voices and Indian opposition figures condemned the visit as legitimizing Netanyahu’s wartime policies.
The trip carries broader geopolitical implications, intersecting with US-Iran tensions and emerging regional corridors.
The Optics
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Israel to a warm public embrace from Benjamin Netanyahu, a carefully choreographed display underscoring the deepening alignment between New Delhi and Tel Aviv.
According to the Associated Press, the two-day visit is focused on strengthening “security, economic and technological cooperation,” including meetings with Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog, an address to the Knesset, and the signing of multiple agreements.
India–Israel trade reached $3.62 billion in the 2025 fiscal year, reflecting the economic dimension of the partnership.
But the optics matter as much as the agreements. Modi’s speech to Israel’s parliament comes as Israel continues its genocidal war on Gaza — a campaign that has killed and wounded hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and devastated the besieged territory’s civilian infrastructure. In this context, a standing ovation in the Knesset is not merely a diplomatic ceremony; it is political messaging.
Israel’s government, facing growing international scrutiny over war crimes allegations, benefits enormously from high-profile visits by major powers. Modi’s appearance signals that Israel remains far from isolated, even as global outrage over Gaza intensifies. The Speech
In his Knesset address, Modi emphasized that India and Israel are “trusted partners” whose relationship is “vital” for trade and security. He condemned the October 7, 2023 attacks and declared that “nothing can justify terrorism,” aligning himself closely with Israeli framing of the conflict.
Reuters reported that Modi reaffirmed India’s solidarity with Israel and its “firm stance against terrorism,” while Netanyahu highlighted what he called a “tremendous alliance” between the two countries. The Israeli prime minister praised India for “standing by” Israel.
Modi referenced support for a UN-backed Gaza peace initiative and spoke of dialogue and stability. Yet notably absent was any strong public criticism of Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
The speech’s structure reflects a broader shift in Indian foreign policy. Historically, India was among the strongest supporters of Palestinian self-determination in the Global South. Diplomatic relations with Israel were only formalized in 1992. Since Modi’s rise to power in 2014, however, relations with Israel have moved from cautious pragmatism to overt strategic alignment.
The ‘Partnership’
Behind the rhetoric lies the substance: arms and technology.
India has become one of Israel’s largest defense customers. Cooperation spans missile systems, surveillance technologies, air defense, drones, and cybersecurity platforms. Analysts widely recognize that Israeli defense exports to India have surged over the past decade, embedding the relationship in concrete military infrastructure.
The current visit is expected to further expand collaboration in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, cybersecurity, and joint defense production. Netanyahu has openly described the relationship as part of a broader axis of innovation and security.
For Palestinians, this is not abstract cooperation. Israel’s military technologies are developed, refined, and field-tested in the context of occupation and repeated wars on Gaza. Surveillance systems, drone capabilities, and precision-guided weaponry are inseparable from the architecture of control imposed on Palestinians.
Domestic Criticism
Modi’s visit has drawn criticism both within India and internationally. The Communist Party of India described the trip as legitimizing Netanyahu during a genocidal assault on Gaza, framing it as a betrayal of India’s anti-colonial legacy.
The critique extends beyond partisan politics. For many observers, the visit symbolizes a shift from India’s historic support for decolonization movements toward a pragmatic alignment with militarized nationalism.
Regionally, the trip unfolds amid rising US-Iran tensions and discussions around new economic corridors linking India to Europe via the Middle East. Israel’s leadership sees India as a crucial node in this emerging architecture.
But this architecture often sidelines Palestine. Trade corridors, AI partnerships, and defense agreements are negotiated at high levels, while Palestinian self-determination is treated as a peripheral issue.
Our Strategic Assessment
Modi’s visit must be understood not as a standalone diplomatic event but as part of a broader geopolitical recalibration.
First, it provides Israel with visible diplomatic reinforcement at a moment when accusations of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and systematic targeting of civilians dominate international discourse. Each high-level visit chips away at narratives of isolation.
Second, it reflects India’s long-term strategic priorities: diversification of defense partnerships, technological advancement, and regional positioning in a multipolar world. Israel offers advanced military technology and intelligence cooperation that New Delhi values deeply.
Third, the visit exposes the fragility of “balanced” diplomacy. While India continues to voice theoretical support for a two-state solution, its material alignment tells another story. Arms transfers, joint ventures, and high-profile endorsements during wartime weigh more heavily than carefully crafted statements at the United Nations.
For Palestinians, the message is sobering. Major powers may condemn settlement expansion in principle, but the structural partnerships that empower Israel’s military and technological dominance remain intact.
Finally, the regional context cannot be ignored. With US-Iran tensions mounting, Israel is eager to solidify alliances beyond Washington. India’s embrace signals that Tel Aviv retains powerful friends in Asia, even as European public opinion shifts.
In this environment, Palestinian rights risk becoming bargaining chips in larger geopolitical calculations.
By Linus Höller, Defense News, Feb 23, 2026, 11:54 AM
Four U.S. Air Force Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker air refueling aircraft are parked at Sofia’s Vasil Levski Airport on Feb. 19, 2026. (Nikolay Doychinov/AFP via Getty Images)
BERLIN — Bulgaria’s Sofia International Airport briefly suspended civilian air operations twice over the weekend while a fleet of American military aircraft staged at the facility, fueling speculation that Washington is positioning forces ahead of a potential strike on Iran.
A Notice to Airmen (NOTAM), verified by the Bulgarian investigative outlet Obektivno.BG, showed the airport restricted non-military operations on Feb. 23 from 01:15 to 02:50 local time and again on Feb. 24 from 01:05 to 03:35. Commercial flights are not ordinarily scheduled during this time frame.
Airport authorities attributed the brief closures to routine runway repairs and explicitly denied any link to the American military presence.
Photographs circulating on social media showed at least six KC-135 Stratotanker refueling aircraft from the 6th Air Refueling Wing at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, along with C-17 and C-130 cargo planes and Boeing 747s typically used for troop transport, parked at the airport’s Terminal 1, according to Obektivno.BG.
Bulgaria’s Ministry of Defense confirmed the U.S. Air Force presence, describing the deployment as support for “training related to NATO’s enhanced vigilance activities,” with American personnel engaged solely in aircraft maintenance. Caretaker Foreign Minister Nadezhda Neynsky acknowledged her ministry had limited information and had ordered officials to collect additional details.
The Sofia staging is a small part of a much larger American military mobilization. The Bulgarian investigative journalists have tracked more than 120 U.S. Air Force aircraft that crossed the Atlantic within days, including four dozen F-16s, three squadrons of F-35A stealth fighters, and 12 F-22 Raptors.
Similar deployments, including F-22s staged at RAF Lakenheath, preceded last June’s Operation Midnight Hammer strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. The USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group is also en route to join the USS Abraham Lincoln, which is already positioned in the Arabian Sea.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has refused to grant Washington permission to use two critical British-controlled installations − RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, the European forward base for U.S. heavy bombers including the B-2 and B-52, and the joint US-UK facility at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean − for any potential strike on Iran, The Times of London reported.
The buildup coincides with high-stakes nuclear diplomacy. American President Donald Trump, speaking at the inaugural meeting of his Board of Peace on Feb. 19, said he had given Tehran roughly ten days to reach a nuclear agreement, warning that “bad things will happen” if talks collapse. U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met an Iranian delegation in Geneva last week, with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi describing agreement on a set of “guiding principles,” though significant gaps remain between the two sides.
Bulgaria, a NATO member since 2004, maintains a Defense Cooperation Agreement with Washington signed in 2006 that permits U.S. forces to use Bulgarian military facilities.
Linus Höller is Defense News’ Europe correspondent and OSINT investigator. He reports on the arms deals, sanctions, and geopolitics shaping Europe and the world. He holds a master’s degrees in WMD nonproliferation, terrorism studies, and international relations, and works in four languages: English, German, Russian, and Spanish.
The tightening strategic embrace between New Delhi and Tel Aviv could test Pakistan’s security and diplomacy, say analysts.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attend a welcome ceremony upon Modi’s arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod, near Tel Aviv, Israel, on February 25, 2026 [Shir Torem/Reuters]
Islamabad, Pakistan – When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stepped off the plane in Tel Aviv on Wednesday for his second visit to Israel, and the first by any Indian premier since his own landmark trip in 2017, the symbolism was unmistakable.
He was given a red-carpet welcome by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a head of government who is facing an International Criminal Court arrest warrant and prosecuting a war in Gaza that much of the world has condemned as genocide.
Yet Modi’s visit signalled not hesitation, but a wholehearted endorsement to expand India’s strategic embrace of Israel.
Days before his arrival, Netanyahu announced at a cabinet meeting what he described as a “hexagon of alliances”, a proposed regional framework placing India at its centre alongside Greece, Cyprus and unnamed Arab, African and Asian states.
Its declared purpose was to counter what he called “radical axes, both the radical Shia axis, which we have struck very hard, and the emerging radical Sunni axis”.
In a region where Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been among Israel’s most outspoken critics, and where Saudi Arabia and Pakistan formalised a Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement in September 2025 – all three Sunni-majority nations – the outline of what Tel Aviv may view as this “axis” is not difficult to discern.
Against that backdrop, India’s deepening alignment with Israel directly impacts – and could reshape – Islamabad’s strategic calculus in an already volatile region, say analysts.
Expanding defence and technology ties
The India-Israel relationship has accelerated sharply since Modi’s 2017 visit. India is now Israel’s largest arms customer, and the agenda this week spans defence, artificial intelligence, quantum computing and cybersecurity.
A new classified framework is expected to open exports from Israel of previously restricted military hardware to India. Among the systems reportedly under discussion is Israel’s Iron Beam, a 100kW-class high-energy laser weapon inducted into the Israeli army in December 2025. Cooperation on Iron Dome missile defence technology transfer for local manufacturing is also under consideration.
For Masood Khan, Pakistan’s former ambassador to both the United States and the United Nations, the visit marks a decisive moment.
“News coming out suggests they are going to sign a special strategic agreement, one that could be seen as a counterpart to the agreement signed by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia last year,” he said. “Israel already has such special agreements with countries like the US and Germany.”
Masood Khalid, a former Pakistani ambassador to China, pointed to this military dimension.
“We saw how Israeli drones worked in the India-Pakistan conflict against us last year,” he said, referring to India’s use of Israeli-origin platforms during the May 2025 strikes against Pakistan, when the South Asian neighbours waged an intense four-day aerial war. “Public statements from both sides speak of strengthening strategic cooperation – particularly in defence, counterterrorism, cybersecurity and AI.”
India’s defence ties with Israel are no one-way street any more. During Israel’s war on Gaza in 2024, Indian arms firms supplied rockets and explosives to Tel Aviv, an Al Jazeera investigation confirmed.
Umer Karim, an associate fellow at the Riyadh-based King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, sees the partnership as part of a wider recalibration.
“It is clear that India has entered into a strategic partnership with Israel, and at a time when both governments have been criticised for their actions, this bilateral relationship has become increasingly important for both,” he told Al Jazeera.
Netanyahu’s ‘hexagon’ and Pakistan
Netanyahu’s hexagon proposal remains undefined. He has promised an “organised presentation” at a later date.
While Israel believes it has weakened what the Israeli PM described as the “Shia axis” through its 2024-2025 campaign against Iran-aligned groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas, the “emerging radical Sunni axis” is less clearly articulated.
Analysts suggest it could refer to states and movements aligned with strands of political Islam and sharply critical of Israeli policy, including Turkiye and countries that have strengthened security ties with Riyadh and Ankara, as Pakistan has. Pakistan is also the only Muslim nation with nuclear weapons – something that has long worried Israel: In the 1980s, Israel tried to recruit India for a joint military operation against a nuclear facility in Pakistan, but backed off the plan after New Delhi abstained.
Karim was convinced about Pakistan’s place in Netanyahu’s crosshairs.
“Absolutely, Pakistan is part of this so-called radical Sunni axis,” he said, arguing that Pakistan’s strategic agreement with Riyadh and its close ties with Turkiye directly affect Israel’s calculations. “In order to counter this, Israel will increase its defence cooperation and intel sharing with Delhi.”
Khalid pointed to longstanding intelligence links.
“Intelligence sharing between Indian RAW and Israeli Mossad dates back to the sixties. So their strengthened interaction in this domain should be of serious concern for us,” he said, referring to the external intelligence agencies of India and Israel.
Others urge caution. Gokhan Ereli, an Ankara-based independent Gulf researcher, argued that Pakistan is unlikely to be an explicit target within Israel’s framing.
“In this context, Pakistan is more plausibly affected indirectly, through the alignment of Israeli, Indian and Western threat narratives, than being singled out as a destabilising actor in its own right,” he told Al Jazeera.
Khan, the former ambassador, agreed.
“I don’t perceive a direct threat, but the latent animosity is there. And when Modi is in Tel Aviv, he will try to poison Netanyahu and other leaders there to think about Pakistan in a hostile way,” he said.
Muhammad Shoaib, assistant professor of international relations at Quaid-i-Azam University, echoed that assessment.
“India’s close relations with Israel are likely to negatively impact Tel Aviv’s perception and statements on Pakistan,” he said.
The Gulf balancing act
Perhaps the most complex arena for Pakistan is the Gulf. For decades, it has relied on Gulf partners for financial support, including rolled-over loans and remittances that form a crucial pillar of its economy.
Pakistan signed a mutual defence agreement with Saudi Arabia in September last year [File: Press Information Department via AP Photo]
After signing the Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement with Saudi Arabia last September, discussions have intensified about Turkiye joining a similar framework. Yet the United Arab Emirates, one of Pakistan’s closest Gulf partners, signed a strategic agreement with India in January 2026.
Khalid called for deeper economic integration to underpin these ties.
“Pakistan is doing well to strengthen its bilateral ties with key Middle East countries, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar and Kuwait,” he said, “but apart from GCC, Pakistan also needs to promote regional cooperation, particularly with countries of Central Asia, Turkiye, Iran and Russia. Geoeconomics through greater trade and connectivity should be the basis of this regional cooperation.” The Gulf Cooperation Council consists of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Complicating matters further is Iran’s central role in current regional tensions. With Washington threatening potential military action against Iran, and Israel pressing for regime change in Tehran, Pakistan has quietly sought to ease tensions by arguing for diplomacy.
“But there are two main parties – Iran and the US – and then, most importantly, Israel, which doesn’t just limit its demands to a nuclear deal,” Khan, the former diplomat said. “It wants to expand to Iran’s missile defence capabilities and regional alliances, and that may well be a sticking point. Pakistan’s aspiration is to contribute to efforts to find a diplomatic solution.”
Strategic contest
Ultimately, Pakistan’s policymakers must assess whether ties with Saudi Arabia and Turkiye are strong enough to offset the expanding India-Israel partnership.
Modi and Netanyahu frame their security doctrines around countering what they describe as “Islamic radicalism”. New Delhi has repeatedly accused Pakistan of fomenting violence against India.
Yet Khan argued that Islamabad is not without leverage.
“We have built a firewall around us by pushing back Indian aggression in May 2025, and by strengthening our ties with the US over the last year,” he said.
According to The Washington Post, the US has shifted at least 150 military aircraft to Europe and the Mideast over the past week as it prepares for a potential attack on Iran
Twelve US F-22 Raptor fighter jets that departed the UK on Tuesday have arrived at an Israeli Air Force base in southern Israel, Ynet has reported, as the US continues its massive military buildup in the Middle East to prepare for a potential attack on Iran.
The F-22s arrived in the UK last week, part of the more than 150 US military aircraft that have shifted to Europe and the Middle East since February 17, as tracked by The Washington Post.
An Israeli official speaking to China’s Xinhua news agency about the US F-22 deployment said that the Israeli military is preparing for all possible scenarios, including an “Iranian attack or retaliatory strike.” The US defended Israel from Iranian retaliatory strikes during the 12-Day War in June 2025, though many missiles got through US air defenses.
A US F-22 Raptor fighter jet takes off from the Savannah Air National Guard Base in Georgia on January 23, 2026 (US Air National Guard photo)
The Ynet report said that the aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford is still heading east in the Mediterranean Sea and has passed Crete. Once it arrives near Israel’s coast, it will be the second US aircraft carrier positioned in the region to prepare for an attack on Iran, joining the USS Abraham Lincoln, which has been operating in the Arabian Sea.
US officials previously told The New York Times that Ford and its three destroyer escorts are likely to be initially deployed near the coast of Israel to defend Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities and towns. The US defended Israel from Iranian counterattacks during the 12-Day War, though many Iranian missiles got through US air defenses, which included US Navy destroyers firing SM-3 missiles.
The Ford was deployed to the Mediterranean after spending several months in the Caribbean, where it supported “Operation Southern Spear,” the US military mission that involved bombing small boats and the attack on Venezuela to abduct Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The crew of the Ford has been on an extended deployment and will break the post-Vietnam War US carrier deployment record if it remains at sea through mid-April.
People watch as smoke rises on the skyline after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, this morning
(Photo credit: MSgt Vincent De Groot 185th ARW Public Affairs, Iowa Air National Guard)
Peace and Justice Post 
You must be logged in to post a comment.