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daniel hagari
Israel Attacks Iran; Explosions Also Reported in Syria and Iraq
"The targets there are likely both Iranian assets as well as militias supported by Tehran," said one Middle East expert.
Oct 25, 2024
Israel—which is already waging war on Gaza and Lebanon—said its military struck targets in and near Iran's capital Tehran early Saturday, while explosions believed to be Israeli attacks were also reported in Syria and Iraq.
Numerous explosions were reported in and near the Iranian capital, including at the Imam Khomeini International Airport, as well as in eastern parts of the city and the Sadeghiyeh neighborhood of western Tehran. Israeli targets reportedly included the headquarters of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
"In response to months of continuous attacks from the regime in Iran against the state of Israel—right now the Israel Defense Forces is conducting precise strikes on military targets in Iran," IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a video posted on social media.
"The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since October 7th—on seven fronts—including direct attacks from Iranian soil," Hagari added. "Like every other sovereign country in the world, the state of Israel has the right and the duty to respond. Our defensive and offensive capabilities are fully mobilized. We will do whatever [is] necessary to defend the state of Israel and the people of Israel."
Iran said it launched the October 1 missile attack in retaliation for Israel's targeted killing of longtime Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, the longtime leader of Hezbollah and an IRGC commander who was with him; as well as for the July assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
If the Syrian and Iraqi explosions are confirmed as Israeli strikes, it would mean that Israel is simultaneously attacking at least five nations—Palestine, Lebanon, Iran, Syria, and Iraq. In Palestine, the IDF is waging a yearlong war which has killed or wounded more than 153,000 people. Israel's bombardment and ground invasion of Lebanon have killed or wounded thousands of people and displaced more than 1.2 million others.
U.S. officials told media outlets that the Biden administration was informed of Saturday's attacks.
Meanwhile, peace groups in the U.S. warned of the risk of escalation.
"The U.S. should stay out of the conflict between Israel and Iran," Massachusetts Peace Action executive director Brian Garvey said in a statement. "Israel is bombing Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen—picking a fight with almost every one of its neighbors—while escalating its genocide in Gaza."
"The U.S. should not provide assistance for Israel's escalations, which would contravene President [Joe] Biden's stated goal of preventing a wider regional conflict," he continued. "Israeli Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu has long sought to embroil the U.S. in war with Iran, and his efforts to do so now are likely timed to influence the U.S. election."
"The United States should avoid that trap, stop sending weapons into the region, and support urgent talks for ceasefires in Gaza, Lebanon, and between Israel and Iran," Garvey added.
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Netanyahu Says Israel 'Will Stand Alone' as Biden Threatens to Withhold Arms
"If we have to, we will fight with our nails," the Israeli prime minister said in response to the American leader's warning against a major Rafah invasion.
May 09, 2024
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday responded to U.S. President Joe Biden's threat to withhold shipments of arms used by the Israel Defense Forces to kill thousands of Palestinian civilians by declaring that his far-right government would continue its assault on Gaza with or without American help.
"If we are forced to stand alone, we will stand alone," Netanyahu said in a video ahead of next week's anniversary of Israel's establishment in 1948, largely via the ethnic cleansing of Palestine's Arabs. "I have already said that if we have to, we will fight with our nails."
Echoing Netanyahu, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the IDF already has the "necessary weapons" to wage war, "including in Rafah," where over 1 million people forcibly displaced from other parts of Gaza are sheltering alongside around 280,000 local residents, all of them bracing for a full-scale Israeli invasion.
The prime minister's remarks came a day after Biden threatened to withhold bombs and artillery shells from Israel if it launches a major invasion of Rafah—even as critics noted that Israeli forces have already attacked and entered the city. Some accused Biden of walking back a previous "red line" warning against any assault on Rafah.
Common Dreams reported Tuesday that Biden is delaying shipments of two types of bombs to Israel in order to send a message that the president's tolerance for what he called Israel's "indiscriminate bombing" of Gazan civilians is waning.
However, observers noted that Biden recently signed off on $14.3 billion in emergency armed assistance for Israel atop the nearly $4 billion the key ally already receives from Washington each year. The Biden administration has quietly approved more than 100 arms sales to Israel since October 7, while pushing for billions of dollars worth of additional deals, including advanced fighter jets.
Biden has also repeatedly bypassed Congress to fast-track weapons transfers to Israel as it wages what the International Court of Justice in January called a "plausibly" genocidal war that's killed, injured, or left missing more than 124,000 Palestinians—mostly women and children—since October 7.
The U.S. administration also provides diplomatic cover for Israel's policies and practices in the form of United Nations Security Council vetoes.
Despite all this support—which comes as most election-year voters supporting Biden's Democratic Party believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza—Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Thursday tweeted, "Hamas ❤️ Biden."
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Aid Groups Condemn IDF 'Humanitarian Islands' Plan for Rafah Civilians
"There is nothing humanitarian about Israel's proposal to push civilians into 'humanitarian islands' in Gaza."
Mar 14, 2024
Aid groups reacted with alarm Thursday to the Israeli military's stated plan to transfer much of the population of Rafah—a small city in southern Gaza that's currently packed with more than 1.5 million people—to so-called "humanitarian islands" in the central part of the enclave.
William Bell, the head of Middle East policy and advocacy at Christian Aid, called the proposal "a preposterous idea" that the international community must reject in favor of an immediate, permanent cease-fire and a massive surge of humanitarian assistance.
"The half-baked plan to force more than a million displaced civilians out of Rafah into so-called 'humanitarian islands' further north beggars belief," said Bell. "And the suggestion that they will be safe simply cannot be given credence."
"How long will it take to build and equip these islands? And how much longer to get people to them?" Bell asked. "With Gaza on the brink of famine, children dying of malnutrition, and desperate families reportedly eating grass to survive, men, women, and children need lifesaving aid now."
"The past five months have taught us that places labeled 'safe zones' in Gaza quickly become death zones."
During a news briefing on Wednesday, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the planned humanitarian zones would be created in concert "with the international community," but he did not provide specifics or a timeline.
Ahead of a planned ground invasion of Rafah, Hagari said the IDF intends to direct a "significant" portion of the city's population—most of which is living in makeshift tents—to designated areas in central Gaza, where he claimed they would be provided with temporary housing, food, and other necessities that Israel has systematically restricted.
Given that Rafah was once considered a relatively safe area for Palestinians displaced by Israel's assault and is currently under IDF bombardment, aid campaigners expressed deep skepticism that the plan outlined by Hagari is in any way viable or humane.
"There is nothing humanitarian about Israel's proposal to push civilians into 'humanitarian islands' in Gaza," said Melanie Ward, CEO of Medical Aid for Palestinians. "They are dangerous and must be stopped. The past five months have taught us that places labeled 'safe zones' in Gaza quickly become death zones."
An investigation published Wednesday by the London-based research firm Forensic Architecture shows how the Israeli military has used supposed humanitarian measures to advance its assault on Gaza's civilian population.
The investigation details the IDF's repeated bombardment of so-called "safe zones" to which it has instructed desperate Gazans to flee and makes the case that Israel's evacuation orders have functioned "as a tool of mass displacement, pushing civilians into unlivable areas that later come under attack."
NEW INVESTIGATION: Since 7 Oct 23, the Israeli army has weaponised humanitarian measures such as ‘evacuation orders’, ‘safe routes’ & ‘safe zones’ to support their military operations & facilitate the mass displacement of Palestinians.
View the platform: https://t.co/sOL45vXBcM pic.twitter.com/wr4SAtrIVj
— Forensic Architecture (@ForensicArchi) March 13, 2024
"Military evacuation of civilian populations is only legal under select, rare circumstances, and requires that displaced civilians be temporarily relocated to areas safe from conflict and with access to fundamental provisions for their safety and survival," the Forensic Architecture analysis said. "Where Israel's evacuation orders might individually be framed as humanitarian in nature, in fact when closely analyzed and considered over time, they reveal patterns of systematic mass displacement, with Palestinians deliberately and repeatedly being expelled from one unsafe and under-resourced location to another."
"A ground invasion in Rafah," the research firm argued, "would exacerbate the already dire humanitarian situation for the 1.5 million displaced Palestinians taking refuge there."
In an interview this past weekend, U.S. President Joe Biden said that an IDF incursion into Rafah would cross a "red line"—a remark that the White House has since tried to walk back after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed the planned assault would go ahead.
Asked about Israel's "humanitarian islands" proposal on Thursday, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said, "We can't confirm that that is in fact a plan that they have."
"Our position has not changed," Kirby said of a potential Rafah invasion. "We do not want to see large-scale operations in Rafah... unless there is [a] legitimate, executable plan to provide for the safety and security of the civilians that are there."
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