Tensions in the Middle East showed no signs of easing Monday as a high-ranking Iranian military official pledged that Israel will face “bitter and unimaginable consequences” for its weekend attack on military targets that killed at least four Iranian soldiers.
Major General Hossein Salami, commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, said the attack showed Israel’s “miscalculation and its frustration in the battlefield” in Gaza and Lebanon. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei echoed Salami’s statements, saying Iran will “use all available tools” to respond to Israel’s attack.
Baghaei said the Islamic Republic is “duty-bound to respond firmly” despite diplomatic efforts aimed at defusing tensions across the region. Iran previously downplayed Saturday’s air attack by Israel, saying it caused only limited damage. The U.S. has warned Iran not to escalate the fighting.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said all Israeli military goals were met. The Israeli military said it had severely damaged factories producing long-range ballistic missiles while also destroying air defense batteries.
The strikes served as retaliation for an Oct. 1 Iranian missile bombardment that did little damage to Israel. That attack had been in response to the killing of a Hamas leader in Tehran that Iran blamed on Israel.
Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said Sunday that the Israeli attack should not be “exaggerated or downplayed” and deferred a decision on retaliation to government officials. President Masoud Pezeshkian said only that Iran would counter with an “appropriate response.”
Developments:
∎ The U.N. Security Council will meet Monday to discuss Israel’s attack on Iran. The Swiss U.N. mission said the meeting had been requested by Iran with the support of Algeria, China and Russia. Iraq has submitted a complaint to the U.N. over Israel’s use of its airspace in the attack.
∎ The Palestinian death toll since the Israeli invasion of Gaza has surpassed 43,000, and more than 100,000 have been wounded, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said.
Israel retaliates in Iran:US says it wasn’t involved
Israel says it arrested 100 militants at Gaza hospital
The Israeli military withdrew from Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, completing a raid on the “terrorist headquarters established by Hamas” in Jabaliya, military spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said in a social media post.
Shoshani said weapons, cash, and intelligence documents were seized in and around the hospital. The military surrounded the hospital last week and breached it over the weekend. Some militants barricaded themselves in the hospital, and about 100 were arrested − including some who the military said attempted to escape during the evacuation of civilians.
The Gaza Health Ministry denied any militant presence at the hospital. The ministry accused the Israelis of detaining all male medical staff at the hospital and confining women to hospital rooms without food or water. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization, described the situation across northern Gaza as “catastrophic.”
Ancient Lebanon city of Tyre draws more fire
Israeli aircraft struck the ancient Lebanese city of Tyre on Monday after the military issued an evacuation call for swaths of the coastal region, media in Lebanon and Israel reported. Earlier, a barrage of about 30 rockets was fired from Lebanon into Israel.
Tyre had been considered safe until recently despite the intensifying air attacks between Israel and Iran-backed, Lebanon-based Hezbollah. But Israeli airstrikes this week have ripped the fronts off buildings, left rubble piled in streets and led to fears the city is not safe. As a result tens of thousands of residents have fled.
Contributing: Reuters
