JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Sunday Iran would not go unpunished for instigating attacks through its proxies, speaking a week after the assassination in Tehran of a Revolutionary Guards colonel that has been blamed on Israel.
Hassan Sayad Khodai, accused by Israel of plotting attacks against its citizens worldwide, was shot dead at the wheel of his car by two people on a motorcycle. The tactic echoed previous killings in Iran that focused on nuclear scientists and were widely pinned on Mossad.
Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency said members of an Israeli intelligence service network had been discovered and arrested by the Guards immediately after the Tehran shooting.
Bennett’s office, which oversees intelligence agency Mossad, has declined to comment on the assassination.
However, in broadcast remarks to his ministers on Sunday, Bennett accused Iran of repeatedly targeting Israeli interests.
“For decades, the Iranian regime has practiced terrorism against Israel and the region by means of proxies, emissaries, but the head of the octopus, Iran itself, has enjoyed immunity,” Bennett said.
“As we have said before, the era of the Iranian regime’s immunity is over. Those who finance terrorists, those who arm terrorists and those who send terrorists will pay the full price,” he added.
Iran has promised to retaliate for Khodai’s death and pointed the finger at Israel.
Israeli PM Bennett says Iranian ‘immunity’ is over
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Israeli PM Bennett says Iranian ‘immunity’ is over
- Israeli leader accuses Iran of repeatedly targeting Israeli interests
Israel army says killed six Gaza militants despite ceasefire
- The military said that it had killed two of six militants it had identified adjacent to its troops in western Rafah and that tanks had fired on them
JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said Wednesday it had killed six militants in an updated toll from an exchange of fire in Gaza the day before, accusing them of violating the ceasefire in the territory.
The military said in a statement late on Tuesday that it had killed two of six militants it had identified adjacent to its troops in western Rafah and that tanks had fired on them.
It said they were killed in an ensuing exchange of fire, including aerial strikes, while troops continued to search for the rest.
In a statement on Wednesday, the military said that “following searches that were conducted in the area, it is now confirmed that troops eliminated the six terrorists during the exchange of fire.”
It said the presence of the militants adjacent to troops and the subsequent incident were a “blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement.”
A security source in Gaza reported late on Tuesday that Israeli forces had “opened fire west of Rafah city.”
Under a truce that entered into force in October following two years of war between Israel and Hamas, Israeli forces in Gaza withdrew to positions behind a demarcation known as the “yellow line.”
The city of Rafah is located behind the yellow line, under Israeli army control. The area beyond the yellow line remains under Hamas authority.
Both sides have repeatedly accused the other of violating the ceasefire.
According to the health ministry in Gaza, which operates under Hamas authority, at least 165 children have been killed in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire began on October 10.
The UN children’s agency UNICEF said on Tuesday that at least 100 children — 60 boys and 40 girls — had been killed since the truce.
Israeli forces have killed a total of at least 447 Palestinians in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect, according to the ministry.
The Israeli army says militants have killed three of its soldiers during the same period.
