The situation in the region is at breaking point. The retaliatory strike threatened by Tehran for the attack on Hamas leader Haniya could take place very soon.
In view of an imminent Iranian attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened the leadership in Tehran and its allies with severe consequences. “I reiterate and say to our enemies: We will react and impose a heavy price,” said the conservative politician. Israel is prepared for any development.
After the targeted killing of Hamas foreign chief Ismail Haniya in Tehran, Iran, which denies Israel the right to exist, threatened massive retaliation. The militias in the region allied with Iran would also take part, said the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), General Hussein Salami, on Saturday. “The criminal and terrorist Zionist regime (Israel) and its supporters must reckon with the holy wrath of the resistance groups,” he wrote on the Revolutionary Guards’ website.
Proxy groups allied with Iran that would participate in an aggression against Israel include the Shiite Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and militias loyal to Iran in Iraq and Syria. His country is in a “multi-front war against Iran’s axis of evil,” Netanyahu said.
The scenario of a possible regional conflagration has been emerging since two of Israel’s high-ranking enemies fell victim to deadly attacks. On Wednesday night, an explosion in the room of a government guesthouse in Tehran killed Hamas’ foreign chief Haniya. A few hours earlier, an air strike had killed high-ranking Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut. Israel claimed responsibility for the attack on Shukr, but has not yet made an official statement on the attack on Haniya. Iran and Hamas blame the Jewish state for the targeted killing.
There are fears that the potentially impending tough confrontation between Israel and its arch-enemies could have unforeseeable consequences. Such consequences had already been threatened after April 14, when the Iranian Revolutionary Guard fired hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel in the first direct attack from Iranian soil. Israel was able to intercept most of the missiles on its own and with the help of the USA and other allies. Israel’s counterattack was relatively small.
The attack by Iran at the time was preceded by an attack on the Iranian embassy compound in the Syrian capital Damascus, which was attributed to Israel and in which two Iranian generals were killed.
It remains unclear when the threatened retaliatory strike could take place. Statements from Tehran and Hezbollah repeatedly refer to the “next few days”. Israel can count on the support of the USA and other allies. The well-connected Israeli journalist Barak Ravid wrote on the portal “axios.com” that Iran could attack as early as Monday. Ravid based his assessment on the assessments of three American and Israeli government officials.
The Iranian national currency, the Rial, has plummeted again following the recent tensions with Israel and the increased risk of war. After the deadly attack on Haniya on Iranian soil and Tehran’s threats of revenge against Israel, the euro exchange rate rose to over 670,000 Rial in exchange offices. This means that the Iranian currency lost almost 15 percent of its value against the euro within a few days. According to financial experts, the euro and dollar exchange rates would rise even further in the event of a military conflict between the two arch enemies. In their opinion, a long-term war would even lead to financial chaos in the country.
A Palestinian from the West Bank killed two people in Israel with a knife. He injured two others. A woman died at the scene of the attack in the street in the city of Holon in the greater Tel Aviv area, the Magen David Adom rescue service reported on X. A second victim, a man over 70, died of his serious injuries in hospital shortly afterwards, the Times of Israel newspaper reported. According to police, the perpetrator was shot. The attacker, a 34-year-old man from the town of Salfit in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, was staying in Israel illegally. The Israeli border fence to the West Bank has gaps through which Palestinians repeatedly enter Israel without being checked.
