Israel at war: Islamic State claims Iran twin bombings, US kills Iran-backed militia leader in Iraq

05 January 2024, The Australian, by Staff Writers

Islamic State says suicide bombers caused Iran blasts

by Staff Writers

Islamic State militants have claimed responsibility for a pair of bombings that killed dozens of people a day earlier in the largest attack in Iran since the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, dispelling suspicions that Israel might have been behind the attack amid worries of a broadening regional conflagration.

The blasts took place with the Middle East on edge because of the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas—an Islamist militant group that has moved closer to Iran in recent years—and increasing tensions between the US and Israel on one side and other Iranian-backed militant groups in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen on the other.

Islamic State said in a statement that two of its operatives had detonated explosive belts at the public ceremony in the southeastern town of Kerman where crowds were commemorating the death of Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ elite Quds Force, who was killed in January 2020 by a US airstrike.

The ideology of Islamic State, a hardline Sunni group, considers Shiite Muslims, which make up a majority of Iran’s population, to be apostates.

Iranian authorities are investigating the blasts and have vowed revenge. The Fars news agency, which is close to the country’s security forces, cited an unnamed person who confirmed that the attack was carried out by two suicide attackers, comparing it to a 2022 assault claimed by Islamic State on a Shiite mosque in the southern city of Shiraz.

The militant group, which has spawned affiliates in Asia and Africa after being pushed off territory in Iraq and Syria, carried out two simultaneous attacks on Tehran in June 2017 that targeted the Iranian parliament building and the mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who founded the Islamic Republic.

IRNA, Iran’s state news agency, previously said the explosions were caused by a pair of remote-controlled explosive devices amid conflicting reports and accusations by Iranian government officials.

– The Wall Street Journal

Minister says Palestinians will run Gaza after war

by Staff Writers

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has reiterated that local Palestinians will be in charge of civilian affairs in Gaza after the war while Israel will maintain overall security control over the enclave.

The Times of Israel reported: While these stances are shared by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the emphasis on Palestinian civilian control over Gaza and the lack of Israeli civilian presence there has angered hardline coalition partners, with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich speaking out against the plan while a member of the war cabinet suggested that the defence minister is merely speaking for himself.

“There will be no Israeli civilian presence in the Gaza Strip after the goals of the war have been achieved,” Mr Gallant said in a briefing to reporters.

“Gaza residents are Palestinian, therefore Palestinian bodies will be in charge on the condition that there will be no hostility to Israel,” he said.

The minister said that Israel would not allow Hamas to control Gaza, nor pose a security threat to its citizens. As such, it would reserve its operational freedom of action in Gaza.

Mr Gallant also outlined a “four-cornered civilian square,” including Israel, the Palestinians, a multinational task force and Egypt.

Israel “will provide information to guide civilian operations” and also carry out inspection of goods entering Gaza in order to ensure that no weapons are smuggled into the enclave, Mr Gallant said.

A Palestinian entity in charge of governing Gaza would build on existing administrative mechanisms to help restore operations in the Strip.

A multinational force led by the United States in partnership with Israel’s European and Arab allies would take responsibility for the reconstruction of Gaza after the war, the minister said.

Riyadh, Doha condemn Israeli calls for emigration

by Agency Writers

Saudi Arabia and Qatar have condemned comments by two Israeli ministers calling for Palestinians to emigrate from the Gaza Strip.

Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Monday called for promoting “a solution to encourage the emigration of Gaza’s residents” and the re-establishment of Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip, a day after far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich made similar comments.

Saudi Arabia “categorically condemns and rejects the comments of the two ministers,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The kingdom called on the international community to act in the face of the Israeli government’s “persistence” in violating international law “through its statements and actions”.

Qatar, which played a mediating role in the temporary truce between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas at the end of November, also “condemned in the strongest terms” the comments made by the two ministers.

“The policy of collective punishment and forced displacement practised by the occupation authorities against the inhabitants of Gaza will not change the fact that Gaza is Palestinian land and will remain Palestinian,” reads a statement published by Qatar’s foreign ministry.

The United States, France and the European Union have also denounced the comments.

The Israeli government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not officially suggested plans to evict Gazans or to send Jewish settlers back to the territory since the war broke out in October.

– AFP

Yemen Houthi rebels launch new drone bomb: US

by Agency Writers

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels launched an explosives-laden sea drone that detonated in international shipping lanes on Thursday local time, their first use of such a weapon in recent months, a senior US military officer said.

The incident came a day after 12 nations incuding Australia and led by the United States warned the Houthis of consequences unless they immediately halted firing on commercial vessels — attacks that the rebels say are in support of Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel is battling militant group Hamas.

“A Houthi one-way attack unmanned surface vessel, or USV, detonated in international shipping lanes. Fortunately, there were no casualties and no ships were hit,” Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, the commander of US naval forces in the Middle East, told journalists.

The attack was the 25th targeting merchant vessels sailing in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November 18, Cooper said.

The US set up a multinational naval task force earlier this month to protect Red Sea shipping from Houthi attacks, which are endangering a transit route that carries up to 12 percent of global trade.

“Since the operation started, together with our partners, we have shot down 19 drones and missiles and sunk three small boats,” Adm Cooper said, but “there are no signs that (the Huthis’) irresponsible behavior is abating.”

The Houthis say they are targeting Israeli-linked vessels, but Adm Cooper said “our assessment is that 55 nations have direct connections to the ships who’ve been attacked”.

The latest round of the Israel-Hamas conflict began when the Palestinian militant group carried out a shock cross-border attack from Gaza on October 7 that killed about 1,140 people, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

US forces in Iraq and Syria have also repeatedly come under fire from drone and rocket attacks that Washington says are being carried out by Iran-backed armed groups.

– AFP

Israel braces after killing of Hamas deputy

by Patrick Lawnham and Staff Writers

The Israeli military remained on heightened alert today as the nation braced for a threatened response from Hezbollah to an attack earlier this week in Beirut that killed a top Hamas commander.

Israel has said it would deliver a decisive military blow to Hezbollah if the Iran-backed militant group doesn’t agree to a diplomatic deal to pull back its forces from the Lebanon-Israel border.

Israel Defence Minister Yoav Gallant met Amos Hochstein, the White House official leading the efforts to de-escalate tensions at the Israeli-Lebanese border. Mr Hochstein has been trying to broker a deal to avert full-scale war in Lebanon.

“We find ourselves at a junction—there is a short window of time for diplomatic understandings, which we prefer,” Mr Gallant said. “We will not tolerate the threats posed by the Iranian proxy, Hezbollah and we will ensure the security of our citizens.”

The killing of the senior Hamas leader in a suspected Israeli strike marked the biggest hit to the group’s top leadership in years, taking out a key player who was responsible for aligning the Palestinian militant group with Iran and its proxies.

Saleh al-Arouri’s killing in a Beirut suburb on Tuesday night is likely to hinder the group’s diplomatic efforts with key partners like Iran but won’t substantially affect the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, military analysts said.

Arouri, a religious hard-liner, was credited by Hamas with orchestrating the October 7 attack on Israel that left 1200 people dead, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials. He also played a leading role in negotiating with Israel through Qatar and Egypt for the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for a cease-fire in Gaza, taking a more uncompromising approach, according to negotiators.

Israel has not acknowledged responsibility. But the head of Israeli spy agency Mossad had warned on Wednesday that Israel would target anyone involved in the planning of the Oct attack. Mossad chief David Barnea said Israel’s intelligence organisation “is obligated to settle accounts with the murderers who raided Gaza border communities on October 7, with the planners and with those who sent them”.

The killing raises tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, who have frequently clashed along the Israel-Lebanon border. Despite the increased tensions, military analysts don’t expect Arouri’s death to lead to a broader regional war.

“The dilemma for Hezbollah is how to respond by sending a deterrent message to Israel without dragging them into all-out war,” said Randa Slim, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, a think-tank in Washington.

– Wall Street Journal

Blinken returns for Gaza aid, de-escalation talks

by Agency Writers

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was to return to the Middle East today on his fourth trip since the Israel-Hamas war, expecting tough talks as he presses for immediate new aid for battered Gaza and de-escalation in the region.

The top US diplomat will visit both Israel and the West Bank, home of the Palestinian Authority, and five Arab countries — Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the State Department said.

Mr Blinken was leave late Thursday US time and first was to go to Turkey — an uneasy US ally which is the home of key Hamas leaders despite being one of the few Muslim-majority countries to recognize Israel — followed by Greece.

Mr Blinken will discuss “immediate measures to increase substantially humanitarian assistance to Gaza,” where the World Health Organisation has warned of the risk of famine and disease.

“We don’t expect every conversation on this trip to be easy. There are obviously tough issues facing the region and difficult choices ahead,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

“But the secretary believes it is the responsibility of the United States of America to lead diplomatic efforts to tackle those challenges head on,” he said.

Mr Blinken on previous trips sought to keep the war isolated to Gaza. But he returns to a region that has seen attacks in or from Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Syria and Iran.

Israel on Tuesday carried out a strike inside Lebanon that killed a top Hamas leader, and Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have been firing on ships in the Red Sea in avowed solidarity with Gaza.

– AFP

Three Israelis missing now said to be hostages

by Agency Writers

Three Israelis who were considered missing since the October 7 attacks by Hamas are being held hostage in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army announced.

“Three citizens who were considered missing are now recognised as hostages and their families have been informed,” military spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters.

This brings to 132 the number of people held hostage by militants in the Gaza Strip since the October 7 attacks, according to figures provided by Israeli officials.

On October 7 Hamas militants carried out a wave of deadly attacks on southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of around 1140 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on the latest official Israeli figures.

Some 250 people were also taken hostage during the attack, 100 of whom have since been freed.

– AFP

US strike kills Iran-backed militia leader in Iraq

by Staff Writers

An American airstrike has killed an Iran-backed militia leader in Baghdad, raising concern that the Israel-Hamas conflict could spread to multiple fronts and pull in the US into a more direct confrontation as American forces come under increased attack.

A US official said Washington conducted a “precision strike” on a vehicle travelling in eastern Baghdad, targeting a member of the Harakat al Nujaba group that the US has been tracking.

The group is designated by the US as a terrorist organisation. The Pentagon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The person targeted “had American blood on his hands”, another US official said.

Harakat al Nujaba said in a statement on its Telegram channel that Moshtaq Talib Al-Saadi had been unjustly killed by US aggression.

Iraq’s government said that the attack was a blatant violation of Iraq’s security and sovereignty and “undermines all agreements between Iraqi forces and coalition forces in Iraq”.

“We view this action as a dangerous escalation and assault on Iraq, diverging from the spirit and the text of the mandate and the mission for which the Global Coalition was established in Iraq,” said Yehia Rasool, spokesman for the Iraqi military.

US forces in Iraq have come under a wave of attacks by Iran-backed militias in recent months. Since mid-October, there have been at least 115 attacks on US and allied forces in Syria and Iraq, with many of them claimed by Iran-backed militants.

– Wall Street Journal