TRANSCRIPT:
Iran is making no apologies for its weekend missile and drone attack on Israel.
Tehran says it was a limited and justified response to the Israeli attack on its consulate on the 1st of April in which two generals died.
Israel and its allies have been considering their response to the strike.
The United States says it believes Iran's attack was deliberately provocative - and is urging Israel not to retaliate.
"This was clearly an escalatory act, the launching of 300 missiles and drones from Iranian soil, directly targeted at the state of Israel. And so what we're going to continue to do is try to de-escalate the conflict. But as long as the war in Gaza continues, we're not going to be back at the place we were before October 7th. It is an ongoing process of trying to keep tensions in the region, to reduce tensions in the region, and try to maintain as much calm as possible, knowing that there is an ongoing conflict that obviously exacerbates tensions in Israel and around the region."
The US and the European Union have both announced plans to impose sanctions on Iran as a part of a diplomatic response to the strike.
E-U diplomat Josep Borrell says their proposal would expand a sanctions regime that would cover both the provision of missiles to Russia, and deliveries to proxies in the Middle East.
"We will increase our outreach with the key partners in the region, and some member states propose the adoption of, expand the restrictive measures against Iran. Adopting an expansion of the restrictive measures against Iran. I will send to the External Action Service (EU's diplomatic service) the request to start the necessary work related to the sanctions."
Germany, France and several other E-U members have publicly backed such a proposal.
In Israel itself, a third meeting of Israel's war cabinet to decide on an response has been delayed.
But Israel's military chief of staff Herzi Halevi has suggested the launch of more than 300 missiles, cruise missiles and drones from Iran at Israeli territory will not be ignored.
"We are closely assessing the situation. We remain at our highest level of readiness. Iran will face the consequences for its actions. We will choose our response accordingly. The IDF remains ready to counter any threat from Iran and its terror proxies as we continue our mission to defend the state of Israel."
The US is also calling for Israel to de-escalate tensions on the West Bank.
There have been a wave of settler attacks on Palestinian towns and villages there, triggered by the killing of a 14-year-old Israeli boy in what authorities say was a militant attack.
It's believed that seven Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers since the attacks began on Friday, and another 75 have been wounded.
Matthew Miller says the Israeli government has a responsibility to curb this violence.
"And, as we have done in the past, if we don't see sufficient action, we are prepared to take actions of our own."
Concern also remains over the still deteriorating conditions in Gaza, and the extent of damage and destruction already caused.
A new report from the United Nations has found 19,000 children have been orphaned in Gaza since October 7.
In its latest gender alert on the war, it has suggested over 10,000 women have been killed in Gaza, with 6,000 of those being mothers.
Andrea De Domenico from the Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says humanitarian operations are still regularly impeded, with just over 40 percent of requests to operate in northern Gaza denied in the last week.
He says everyday is a struggle to survive.
“In Gaza, I think we can say clearly today that there are 2 million survivors. Every day is literally a struggle to survive. And survive through insecurity because, as we repeatedly say, there is no place that is safe to stay and to leave. We, as a humanitarian community and international community, we are doing all the effort possible to bring assistance, but the reality is that there is very little that we can bring inside Gaza to tackle displacement."
