According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel is engaged in an “existential war” against Iran and its allies. In a televised address from the Israeli army headquarters in Kirya in Tel Aviv, he announced “challenging days” ahead. Netanyahu stressed that Israel had carried out “devastating blows” against Iran’s main henchmen – the Houthis, Hamas and Hezbollah – in recent days.
Netanyahu referred to the strike against Hamas military leader Muhammad Deif in the Gaza Strip (although it is unknown whether Deif is still alive), the attack on the port of Hodeida in Yemen after the Houthis attacked Tel Aviv with a drone, and the killing of Fuad Shukr, the top commander of the Lebanese terrorist militia Hezbollah. Shukr was directly responsible for the murder of twelve children in Majdal Shams on Saturday and for attacks along Israel’s northern border.
Ismail Haniyeh speaks in Tehran during a memorial ceremony for the killed commander of the Revolutionary Guard Qasem SuleimaniPhoto: picture alliance / abaca
“We have settled our score with Mohsin,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said in his televised address, alluding to Shukr’s fighting actions. Benjamin Netanyahu also highlighted Shukr’s involvement in the 1983 attack on US Marines in Lebanon and his role in the ties between Iran and Hezbollah.
He promised that Israel would take revenge on anyone who harmed the country: “Anyone who targets our children, anyone who murders our citizens, anyone who harms our country – their blood is on their own head.” Any aggression against Israel would exact a high price.
Ayatollah calls for “revenge for Haniyeh’s blood”
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatened Israel with a “severe punishment”: “With this action, the criminal and terrorist Zionist regime has prepared the ground for a severe punishment and we consider it our duty to seek revenge for his blood, since he was martyred on the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” said Khamenei.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement quoted by the Reuters news agency: “The martyrdom of Haniyeh in Tehran will strengthen and deepen the unbreakable bond between Tehran, Palestine and the resistance.” In addition, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council met to decide on a strategy in response to the killing of Haniyeh in Tehran.
Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that Iranian officials were completely shocked by the killing, as it was a serious blow to Iran’s reputation in security matters at a time when the country was trying to expand its power in the region. and
