Israel has hinted that it is planning airstrikes to topple the Iranian regime as it seeks retaliation for its missile attack earlier this month.
Tel Aviv has been narrowing its targets to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its volunteer paramilitary force while consulting the United States on its response. The times has reported.
Although a round of missile strikes is unlikely to topple the Iranian regime, a Western official has suggested that the force of the attack could encourage internal opposition.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement to the Iranian people: “Do not allow a small group of fanatical theocrats to crush your hopes and dreams… The people of Iran must know: Israel is with you.” .
“When Iran is finally free – and that moment will come much sooner than people think – everything will be different.”
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly on September 27.
Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system intercepts missiles launched from Gaza
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves before Friday prayer ceremony in Tehran.
The statement was made in English just days before Iran launched 200 missiles at Israel on October 1.
Netanyahu hopes that any future airstrikes will help weaken the two pillars of Iran’s Islamic regime: the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran (IRGC) and the Basij paramilitary force.
While the IRGC is an elite military force, the Basij is a loyal militia generally made up of foot soldiers.
It comes as Israel warned that Iran “won’t know what will hit them” when the country retaliates.
Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a video released by his office: “Whoever attacks us will be injured and will pay a price.”
“Our attack will be deadly, precise and above all surprising, they will not understand what happened and how it happened, they will see the results.”
Netanyahu has also promised that his archenemy will pay for his missile attack that ultimately killed no one.
Washington called it ineffective and the Israeli government previously described it as a “failure.”
Missiles launched from Iran towards Israel are seen in the West Bank city of Nablus on Tuesday, October 1, 2024
Iranian protesters wave a Palestinian flag and hold a sign of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at an anti-Israel rally.
This image shows projectiles intercepted by Israel over Jerusalem, on October 1, 2024.
Meanwhile, Iran warned Israel that the spirit of resistance will “strengthen” following the assassination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
Sinwar, the mastermind of the October 7 attack, was killed during an operation by Israeli soldiers in the Palestinian enclave on Wednesday.
Western leaders said his death offered a chance for the conflict to end, but Netanyahu said the war would continue until hostages taken by Hamas militants were returned.
‘Today we settled accounts. Today the evil has been dealt a blow, but our task is not yet completed,” Netanyahu said in a videotaped statement after the death was confirmed Thursday.
‘To the dear hostage families I say: this is an important moment in the war. “We will continue at full strength until all your loved ones, our loved ones, are home.”
Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (pictured) said: “Whoever attacks us will be injured and will pay a price.”
Iran’s missile attack on Israel on October 1 damaged several targets
A missile breaks up in mid-air after being hit by an interceptor fired by one of Israel’s air defense systems.
Sinwar, who was named Hamas’ overall leader following the assassination of political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July, was believed to have been hiding in the labyrinth of tunnels Hamas has built under Gaza over the past two decades.
He was killed during a firefight in southern Gaza on Wednesday by Israeli troops who initially did not know they had captured their country’s number one enemy, Israeli officials said.
The military released drone video of what they said was Sinwar, sitting on a couch and covered in dust inside a destroyed building.
Hamas has not made any comment, but sources within the group have said that evidence they have seen suggests that Sinwar was indeed killed by Israeli troops.