Iran Tehran threatens Israel with harsh retaliation
Following the deadly attacks on two high-ranking enemies of Israel in Tehran and Beirut, Iran is threatening a harsh retaliatory strike. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) commander, General Hussein Salami, said that Iranian-allied militias in the region would also take part in the attack. "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' web portal.
03.08.2024, 16:45
SDA
Iran's non-state allies include the Houthi in Yemen and the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, while there are also militias loyal to Iran in Iraq and Syria. Furthermore, the Islamist Hamas in the Palestinian territories, against which Israel is waging war in the Gaza Strip, is one of Tehran's clients.
In a letter to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, the IRGC commander spoke of harsh and bloody revenge. Israel will have to pay a high price for the killing of Hamas foreign chief Ismail Haniya in Tehran and Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut, Salami wrote. Israel has not yet commented on the death of Hanija. However, the Islamist Hamas and Iran hold Israel responsible.
Hanija was deliberately killed by an explosion in an Iranian government guest house in Tehran last Wednesday night. There is speculation about the exact circumstances of his assassination on the sidelines of a state ceremony for the swearing-in of the new Iranian President Massud Peseschkian. Iran has now once again contradicted reports in the Western media that Israeli agents had planted a bomb in the guest house guarded by the Revolutionary Guards two months before Haniya's trip. In the end, they detonated the explosive device remotely.
Iran has its own version of the attack on Haniya
According to the Revolutionary Guards, however, the attack was carried out with a short-range projectile. This was equipped with a seven-kilogram warhead and was fired from outside the guest house in the north of the capital. This caused the explosion that killed Hanija, according to a report by the Revolutionary Guards. It is their third report on the attack. The statements in it cannot be independently verified.
In their report, the Revolutionary Guards also hold Israel responsible for the "act of terror", claiming that the country was supported by the USA.
Nine dead in fighting in the West Bank
Nine Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air strikes in Tulkarem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to both sides. Among the victims of a first drone attack was a local commander of the Kassam Brigades, the armed arm of the Islamist Hamas.
The Israeli military announced that it had fired on a vehicle. The target of the attack was a "terror cell" that was active in the area around Tulkarem. The five men were reportedly on their way to carry out a terrorist attack.
A short time later, the military reportedly returned to Tulkarem. When it came under fire, an air force attack killed four militants. The Palestinian news agency Wafa confirmed the deaths of four Palestinians in the clash. Tulkarem is considered a stronghold of Palestinian militants.
Further Gaza talks in Cairo
According to a media report, an Israeli delegation arrived in Cairo for indirect Gaza negotiations. The delegation included the heads of the secret services Mossad (foreign), David Barnea, and Shin Bet (domestic), Ronen Bar, wrote the well-connected Israeli journalist Barak Ravid in the online news portal "walla.co.il".
Egypt, Qatar and the USA are mediating in the indirect negotiations with Hamas. The new round of talks is not under a good star. The deadly attacks on the enemies of Israel, Haniya and Shukr, have brought the entire region to the brink of war. Hanija, one of the Islamist organization's main negotiators, was also killed - with uncertain consequences for the progress of the already difficult talks, which have been going round in circles for months.
They are aimed at a ceasefire in the almost ten-month-long Gaza war and the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. In return, Palestinian prisoners are to be released from Israeli prisons. Recently, Israel's position has hardened, with the country insisting that its military remain in strategic locations in the Gaza Strip for longer.
Local Hezbollah commander killed in southern Lebanon
According to both sides, a Hezbollah fighter was killed in an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, two people were also injured in the attack on a vehicle near the town of Basurieh.
The Israeli military announced that it had eliminated a Hezbollah fighter. The man had played a central role in the planning and execution of attacks on Israel. The Shiite militia also confirmed his death. Hezbollah claimed responsibility for an attack on northern Israel.
Since the outbreak of the Gaza war on October 7 last year, Hezbollah and the Israeli military have come under fire on a daily basis. There have been casualties on both sides. The Gaza war was triggered by the unprecedented massacre carried out by terrorists from Hamas and other groups in southern Israel.
