Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has promised to respond to the assaults by Israel and its ally, the United States, which are aimed at Iran and its affiliated groups in the region.
“Both the USA and the Zionist regime should understand that they can expect a tooth-breaking response for their actions against Iran, the Iranian people, and the resistance front,” Mr. Khamenei stated during a speech addressed to students in Tehran.
He referenced the coalition of armed groups supported by Tehran, which includes Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
Regional tensions have escalated since the eruption of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza in October of last year, which has involved Iran-aligned groups along with others from Iraq and Syria.
On 26 October, Israel launched airstrikes on military installations in Iran as a countermeasure to Iran’s attack on Israel on 1 October, which was itself in retaliation for the deaths of Iranian-backed militant leaders and a Revolutionary Guards commander.
The attack resulted in the deaths of at least four soldiers, while Iran reported “limited damage” to some radar systems. Iranian media also reported that a civilian was killed during the incident.
In his remarks, Mr. Khamenei commemorated the fallen soldiers, asserting that their sacrifices in the fight against Israel “will not be forgotten”.
Israel has cautioned Iran against any retaliation in response to the 26 October airstrike.
Mr. Khamenei remarked that Iran is “certainly taking all necessary measures to prepare the Iranian nation, whether in military terms, weaponry, or political efforts,” without providing further details.
Revolutionary Guards spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini emphasized that Iran would respond “decisively” to Israel’s actions.
“The enemy must learn that it cannot carry out any malevolent acts; it will inevitably face a crushing retaliation for its wrongdoings,” Mr. Naini was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency.
Further deadly Israeli airstrikes have hit ‘apocalyptic’ areas in northern Gaza as Israel conducted ongoing operations against Hamas. The UN has described the conditions there as “apocalyptic,” while Hezbollah has escalated rocket attacks near Israel’s commercial center in Tel Aviv, thus opening a second front.
Since late September, Israel has been involved in an all-out war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, while continuing to engage in hostilities against Hamas, which ignited the Gaza conflict by attacking Israel on 7 October last year.
People assess the damages following an Israeli strike in the village of Douris within Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.
The war threatens to escalate further after mutual strikes between Israel and Iran in recent months. Iran’s supreme leader has reiterated intentions to respond to assaults on the Islamic republic and its allies.
Since 6 October, Israeli forces have executed a comprehensive air and ground offensive in northern Gaza, concentrating on the Jabalia region, and have vowed to hinder any efforts by Hamas militants to reassemble.
“The situation in northern Gaza is apocalyptic,” stated a collective message from UN agency heads.
“The region has been under siege for nearly a month, deprived of basic humanitarian aid and life-saving resources while incessant bombardment and other assaults persist,” the heads of humanitarian and health agencies declared.
“The entire Palestinian populace in northern Gaza is at imminent risk of demise from disease, famine, and violence.”
Witnesses claimed Israeli warplanes struck Beit Lahia, adjacent to Jabalia, twice overnight.
Israel’s military reported that numerous militants were killed around Jabalia “during aerial and ground operations.”
Troops were also engaged in central Gaza and Rafah in the territory’s extreme south, while witnesses reported Israeli drones and naval vessels firing at Al-Mawasi in southern Gaza.
Rescue workers and medics in Gaza have reported three fatalities from an attack in Nuseirat, central Gaza, which came shortly after AFP images displayed the bloodstained shrouds of several individuals killed there in an Israeli strike.
After nearly a year of reciprocal fire around Israel’s northern border, which Hezbollah claimed was in solidarity with Hamas, Israel amplified its bombardment campaign against targets in Lebanon on 23 September and later deployed ground forces.
Hezbollah has since expanded its rocket attacks deeper into Israeli territory.
A strike in the Sharon area north of Tel Aviv injured 19 individuals, according to police reports, following the army’s assertion of three projectiles fired from Lebanon into central Israel.
Four of the injured were reported to be in “moderate condition,” as indicated by the Israeli police.
Hezbollah announced its continued rocket launches targeting Israel’s Glilot intelligence base near Tel Aviv.
Images from Tira, an almost entirely Arab town located about 25km northeast of Tel Aviv, displayed the upper wall blown out of what appeared to be a residential building, with several vehicles beneath crushed by debris.
Israel’s military stated that a strike in the vicinity of Tyre in southern Lebanon resulted in the deaths of two fighters “accountable for firing over 400 projectiles at Israel in the past month alone.”
Late yesterday, Lebanon’s health ministry reported at least 52 fatalities due to Israeli strikes in the country’s east, with no prior evacuation warnings issued by the Israeli army.
Since the escalation of the war, Israeli attacks have resulted in at least 1,911 fatalities in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally based on health ministry statistics.
