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‘Iran will not respond’: Middle East experts, dissidents comment on Damascus strike
An alleged Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate building in Damascus Monday night resulted in the killing of a number of Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Quds Force generals, and it is considered one of the biggest strikes against these two Iranian organizations after the killing of Qassem Soleimani—the commander of the Iranian Quds Force—in a US airstrike in Baghdad in January 2020.
Also, according to what was reported by Lebanese media close to Hezbollah, among the dead were also Muhammad Adnan Sanbour and Mustafa Suleiman, who were leaders in the Lebanese Hezbollah.
The Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, said in a statement published by Iranian news agencies, “The malicious Zionist entity will receive its punishment at the hands of our brave men. We will make the Zionists regret the crime of attacking the Iranian consulate in Damascus and others like it.”
On Monday evening, the Iranian Supreme Security Council held a meeting in the presence of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi after the Israeli bombing of the Iranian consulate in Damascus. The Secretariat of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council said, “The Council took the appropriate decisions regarding the war crime related to the Israeli bombing of the Iranian consulate in Damascus,” noting that the Council’s decisions were taken in a session attended by Raisi, which took place on Monday evening.
The success of the strike
Sufyan al-Samarrai, head of the Baghdad Post website, told The Media Line, “This is one of the largest strikes directed against the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the Quds Force, and Hezbollah.” He continued, “This Israeli military strike was successful, and in its goal, they were involved in major war crimes in Syria and Lebanon, and they were also running an operations room to conspire against Jordan and Saudi Arabia.”
He also said, “We can only applaud this successful strike. All of Iran’s followers and militias must be eliminated so that the region can enjoy security and stability.”
Echoing the sentiment of accountability yet spotlighting the human cost, Syrian journalist Majd Kanaan told The Media Line, “These leaders were involved in the blood of the Syrian and Lebanese people, and they were planning to destroy several countries in the region.”
“The Khomeini regime in Iran is experiencing its worst period. It is in unnatural humiliation and cannot respond, even though Israel is only a few hundred kilometers away from Damascus, and they have large forces stationed in the Syrian capital.”
He added, “The most we will see is bombing some empty American bases in Iraq. This is all they can do.”
Bridging perspectives on the aftermath, Saudi political analyst Enad Al-Shamrani told The Media Line, “Striking the heads of sedition and terrorism is a popular demand. These are not leaders for liberating Jerusalem, but leaders for occupying Arab capitals.”
“General Zahedi was the responsible person in Syria, and we can say that he is the de facto ruler of Syria, but now he has been killed, and we do not know who will come after him.” He added: “The second row of Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Quds Force generals are not as efficient as the leaders of the first row, of whom there are only a few remaining.”
According to Al-Shamrani, “The Gulf countries were not far from targeting the leaders of the Revolutionary Guard, and they are truly criminals.”
Amid discussions of the strike’s strategic ramifications, Ahmed Al-Shibl, a member of Hezbollah in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, told The Media Line, “So far, there are no orders to respond to Israeli attacks.”
“These martyred leaders were killed because they were defending the truth with our brothers in Gaza. They were fighting the Zionist enemy, and that is why Israel targeted them.”
“The blood of the martyrs will not be shed,” he continued. “We will respond decisively against America, Israel, the evil triangle, and all the traitors and Zionists who help them, and our response will be decisive.”
He added, “We all go in sacrifice for the leaders. These are spiritual leaders before they are field commanders. The resistance does not abandon the blood of its martyrs.”
Intensifying the call for retribution, Hussain Khozam, an Iranian political activist, told The Media Line, “The Islamic resistance will not remain silent regarding these attacks. The response will be decisive against all Israeli interests, just as the response will be decisive from the resistance in Gaza.”
He continued, “These martyrs gave their lives in service of religion and to defend the oppressed in Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, and Yemen. The resistance’s response will be decisive.”
In contrast, Mohammad Shazar, a Syrian dissident, told The Media Line, “Iran will not respond. All it will do is a few missiles that its militias will launch toward American bases in Iraq, and perhaps Saudi Arabia or even Jordan.”
Omar Banbih, an Iranian affairs specialist, told The Media Line, “The strike was painful for the Iranians. It is a fact that stopped many of its plans in Jordan, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, and even the Gulf states.”
He continued, “Israel may have wanted to divert attention from its recent bombing of medical complexes in Gaza, and that is why it killed Iranian leaders who did not participate directly in the war in Gaza but rather committed other crimes in the Arab world.”
The United States is deferring the removal of certain Lebanese citizens from the country, President Joe Biden said on Friday, citing humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon amid tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.
The deferred designation, which lasts 18 months, allows Lebanese citizens to remain in the country with the right to work, according to a memorandum Biden sent to the Department of Homeland Security.
“Humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon have significantly deteriorated due to tensions between Hezbollah and Israel,” Biden said in the memo.
“While I remain focused on de-escalating the situation and improving humanitarian conditions, many civilians remain in danger; therefore, I am directing the deferral of removal of certain Lebanese nationals who are present in the United States.”Increased attacks since Oct.7
Israel and Hezbollah have been trading fire since Hezbollah announced a “support front” with Palestinians shortly after its ally Hamas attacked southern Israeli border communities on Oct. 7, triggering Israel’s military assault in Gaza.
The fighting in Lebanon has killed more than 100 civilians and more than 300 Hezbollah fighters, according to a Reuters tally, and led to levels of destruction in Lebanese border towns and villages not seen since the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.
On the Israeli side, 10 Israeli civilians, a foreign agricultural worker and 20 Israeli soldiers have been killed. Tens of thousands have been evacuated from both sides of the border.
Hezbollah is an Iran-backed terrorist group and the most powerful military and political force in Lebanon.
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Preparing for war: Haifa mayor describes city’s infrastructure changes tensions in North escalate
Haifa mayor Yona Yahav spoke this past Monday with Lior Rosenfeld on Radio North 104.5FM about the escalation of the war in the North and his entry into political office amidst the security situation.
Yahav began, “I cannot speak on behalf of the North as I don’t know exactly what’s happening there. No one updates me, as if we are not the largest and most important city in the North. Tomorrow, the Home Front Command is coming to see us for the first time, and we will see what they have to say. We are doing everything to ensure that the city itself and our residents are safe and know what to do in case, God forbid, missiles fall on us. They are more accurate than those in 2006.”
Yahav also discussed the city’s preparations for a war in the North.
“We are now changing the entire method of building public structures,” Yahav said. “We are preparing them for prolonged stays. The minimum will be four consecutive days in shelters and such buildings, which require preparation. For example, installing toilets, which we don’t have today, and we have given instructions to build them in places close to where new houses are being built. This has been fully understood, and developers have begun to understand that the talk about evacuation and reconstruction has undergone drastic changes in light of the security situation. For example, road width needs to be maintained for the sake of evacuating residents on these roads. These are things that were not considered until now and must now be taken into account.”
Yahav’s plans for the success of Haifa’s future
Yahav then discussed his appeal to the transportation minister to stop the Highway 23 Carmel Tunnels’ toll charge.
“We called on the transportation minister to stop the discrimination. Haifa and the North are always discriminated against compared to central Israel, and there’s no reason for this. There are huge tunnels dug in Jerusalem that do not cost residents any money to pass through. There’s no reason why the tunnels dug in Haifa should include a toll. I speak on behalf of Haifa residents, and we are preparing to petition if we do not receive an answer.”
Regarding his entry into his mayoral role about three months ago, Yahav said, “I found a completely ruined city. They destroyed the municipality, and it’s very difficult to move things around. I don’t understand how residents sat idly by and kept quiet. We are trying to go to government offices to fix relations, to get funds, to move projects to bring in fees – and we are doing all this in a short time.
“The ministers are acting openly and with the goodwill to help. I am now waiting for the money on the table. The casino building in Bat Galim will be a luxurious hotel on the Bat Galim seashore. This neighborhood will undergo a complete transformation and will be the most beautiful neighborhood in the country. It will also be the only neighborhood facing a recognized beach. We came to make a change, and we will succeed.”
In conclusion, he touched on the issue of wild boars: “You won’t be able to follow them because soon you won’t see them anymore.”
world news
‘Psychological operation’: Turkey condemns FM Katz social media post depicting toddler Erdogan
Turkey’s Foreign Affairs Ministry released a statement on Sunday condemning a social media post made by Foreign Minister Israel Katz, in which Katz presented Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan as a toddler on the lap of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Katz, in a Sunday post on X, wrote “Erdogan @RTErdogan finances and arms terrorist organizations of Hamas to carry out attacks and murder against Israelis. The General Security Service captured a squad of students from Bir Zeit who were employed by the Hamas headquarters in Turkey to carry out murder attacks in Israel, through training and weapons and tens of thousands of dollars provided to them.
“Erdogan turned Turkey into a state that supports terrorism and subjects Turkey to the Iranian axis of evil in the name of extreme ideology and blatant anti-Semitism.”
Katz’s comments were made in reference to a recently thwarted terror attack planned by the student Hamas cell in Bir Zeit University, north of Ramallah. The attempted attack, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said, was directed by Hamas’s base in Turkey.ארדואן @RTErdogan מממן ומחמש ארגוני טרור של החמאס לביצוע פיגועים ורצח נגד ישראלים. שירות הביטחון הכללי לכד חוליית סטודנטים מביר זית שהופעלו ע”י מפקדת החמאס בטורקיה לביצוע פיגועי רצח בישראל, באמצעות אימונים ונשק ועשרות אלפי דולרים שסופקו להם.ארדואן הפך את טורקיה למדינה תומכת טרור… pic.twitter.com/R0SCjYdngN
— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) July 21, 2024
Turkey condemns the social media post
The Turkish ministry responded “The Israeli Foreign Minister is trying to hide Israel’s crimes against the Palestinians behind a series of lies, slander and disrespect.
“Israel’s dirty propaganda targeting Türkiye and President Erdoğan, and psychological operation attempts will not bear fruit.
“The members of the Netanyahu Government, who have killed nearly forty thousand Palestinians in Gaza and are now trying to start a regional war in order to stay in power, will be tried in international courts and held accountable for their crimes.
“Türkiye will continue to speak the truth and defend the right of the Palestinian people to live in justice and peace.”
The ministry cited data provided by the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
Additionally, Turkey has repeatedly asserted that it does not categorize Hamas as a terrorist organization – despite its western allies acknowledging it as such and its proven attacks on Israeli civilians.
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