Iranian officials say Tehran wants to flood the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories with weapons
Iran is smuggling weapons into the occupied West Bank in by US intelligence officials, it is an apparent attempt to foment unrest in the ongoing shadow war with Israel.
Iran operates smuggling routes through the Middle East with the help of intelligence operatives, militants and criminal gangs. deliver weapons to the West Bank, several U.S., Israeli and Iranian security officials told the New York Times on Tuesday.
Iranian officials, who requested anonymity, said Tehran wants to flood the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories with weapons to provoke potential unrest against Israel.
Reports of Iran's ongoing smuggling efforts were highlighted by an academic study last year that noted a marked increase in arms and drug smuggling into the West Bank through Jordan and Egypt.
The long-simmering conflict between Israel and Iran came to the surface earlier this year when Israel began attacking not only Iranian proxies but also Iranian personnel and property in the Middle East, most recently by killing a senior Iranian general in Damascus, Syria.
The smuggling began two years ago
Security officials told the New York Times that the smuggling began about two years ago when weapons flooded routes previously used to smuggle drugs and other contraband.
Officials believe Iran is using two main routes to the West Bank: through Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel. The sophisticated covert network is believed to employ a complex network of militants, organized crime gangs and Bedouin smugglers who are said to be moving weapons from Jordan to Israel.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces are reportedly preparing to strike Iranian nuclear facilities if Tehran launches an attack in retaliation for the killing of a top general last week.
Israel has conducted air force exercises in recent days and is eyeing vital Iranian infrastructure, including nuclear facilities, London-based Elaph News reports. reported, citing an unnamed Western security official.
Iranians mourn General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, who was killed in an Israeli strike according to Damascus. Photo: Sobhan Farajwan/Pacific Press/Shutterstock
Israelis have been on edge since late last week, when a high-precision Israeli airstrike killed a senior general with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other senior officers at the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
Mohammad Reza Zahedi has been described as the most important Iranian general killed since US airstrike in 2020 that killed Qassim Soleimani.
Iran has vowed to avenge the killing, raising fears of a major escalation and even all-out war between Israel and Iran.
A call not to panic .
An IDF spokesman last Friday urged the Israeli public not to panic buy supplies and power generators as Western intelligence sources reported a major airstrike on Israel. was imminent within 48 hours.
Refuting previous reports of an imminent attack, unnamed US officials quoted by CNN on Tuesday said their intelligence shows Iran is unlikely to launch a direct strike on Israel for fear of widespread consequences of the global conflict.
It is now believed that Iran may strike Israel. is mulling a response that would involve some of its proxies, such as Lebanon's Hezbollah or Yemen's Houthis.
Early on Tuesday, Israeli forces carried out a series of attacks on Syrian army posts in southern Syria, the IDF said .< /p>
This happened in response to Syrian rocket attacks on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in the north of the country.
There were no reports of casualties.
Promise to strike Iran
In addition, the Israeli Foreign Minister, in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica on Tuesday, promised to strike Iran if Israel is attacked.
< p> “If Iran attacks us directly, we will attack Iran,” Israel said Katz.
“And if militias allied with Iran do this, as retaliation for the destruction of the (Iranian) consulate in Damascus, we will attack them too.”
Israel has made it clear that it is not interested in a serious confrontation with Hezbollah, despite the Iranian-backed terrorist group firing rockets at northern Israel almost daily since the start of the Gaza war.
Asked about a possible response to After of a major Hezbollah attack, Mr. Katz noted that Israel would consider sending troops to Lebanon:
«If missiles start hitting Tel Aviv from Lebanon as reprisal against Damascus, Israel will send warplanes and troops.» .
In Iran, a senior commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps made a veiled threat against the United Arab Emirates for taking into account the interests of Israel.
Alireza Tangsiri, commander of the IRGC navy, told the semi-official Iranian The Student News Agency reported on Tuesday that Israelis are coming to the UAE “not for economic purposes, but rather for security and military work,” which it said poses a threat to Iran.
UAE in 2020 year became the first Gulf country to normalize relations with Israel as part of a landmark deal brokered by the United States.
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