Iranian-backed militias attack US forces 100 times since the start of the Gaza war
On the 25th, when the US military was in critical condition, the US also attacked Hezbollah, killing 19 people.
Israel kills senior Iranian general dispatched to Syria, sends warning to Iran
THE HILL, a media outlet specializing in the U.S. Congress, reported on the 26th (local time) that the risk of the Gaza war spreading to the Middle East is increasing as Iran kills a senior Iranian general in Syria.
Iran’s state-run news agency said Israel carried out an airstrike in Syria, killing Seyyed Raj Mousavi, a senior general dispatched to Syria as part of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
A Syrian human rights watchdog said Israeli forces attacked Mousavi the moment he entered a farm known to be a Hezbollah military base in Lebanon.
Mousavi is known to have been responsible for coordinating between Syria and Hezbollah.
Iranian News Agency reported that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said that Mousavi was a close associate of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leader Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2020, and that Israel will pay for Mousavi’s death.
Additionally, Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amirabdollahian wrote in a post on X, “There will be strong retaliation from Tel Aviv.”
Hezbollah also strongly criticized Israel for attacking Mousavi. If Iran retaliates against Israel, it is expected to mobilize Hezbollah and others.
Israel, which rarely acknowledged the fact that it attacked Syria, also unusually announced that it had attacked an Iranian group supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israeli forces were fighting on multiple battlefields and said, “Anyone who attacks us will be attacked. “There are no exceptions,” he emphasized.
Trita Fasi, director of the Quincy Institute of America, said Israel has sent a message to Iran that it can attack high-ranking Iranian figures who support Hezbollah and others at any time.
Israel’s attack on Syria occurred while the U.S. government was trying to prevent the Gaza war, which is causing massive civilian casualties, from spreading to the Middle East.
But the United States is also increasingly drawn into the conflict with the forces behind Iran, which are attacking U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria. On Christmas Day, a militia attacked U.S. troops with a drone in Iraq, injuring three U.S. soldiers, and President Biden ordered an attack the next day.
Since the outbreak of the Gaza war on October 7, Iranian-backed militias have attacked U.S. forces about 100 times. The damage suffered by the U.S. military was relatively minor, but when one U.S. soldier was left in critical condition due to the attack on the 25th, the U.S. counterattacked, killing one militia member and wounding 18 others.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels also continue to attack civilian commercial ships in the Red Sea. In response, the United States is leading the multinational force to suppress the attacks of the Houthis, but the Houthis are still poised to continue their attacks.
◆Only a ceasefire or weakening of the Gaza war can prevent the spread of war in the Middle East.
Barbara Slavin, director of the Middle East at the Stimson Center, a U.S. think tank, expressed concern that the situation could worsen, saying, “Each person is participating in a game of chess.” However, he predicted that the situation would change significantly immediately and a third world war would not occur.
Experts point out that the only way to lower tensions in the Middle East is a ceasefire or a reduction in the intensity of fighting in the Gaza war. As the damage increases, with the Palestinian death toll exceeding 20,000, anger is growing among Arab countries.
Accordingly, the United States is pressuring Israel to switch to low-intensity tactics, but Israel is not yet showing any signs of switching to low-intensity tactics. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized this week: “We will not stop until we win.”
Major General Fasi said, “Every day, we are heading towards a full-scale war in the Middle East. “The most effective way to prevent war in the Middle East is a ceasefire in the Gaza war,” he emphasized.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.