The Israeli army says it has found evidence in Gaza that shows Iran helped Hamas make precision-guided missiles, something the group was thought not to have.
It’s unclear what the proof was of Iranian involvement in manufacturing and operating of the missiles, although a photo has been presented along with the announcement, which Israel army says is a cruise missile produced by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Iran has never denied its support for Hamas and other armed groups in the region, providing funds, training, weapons and knowhow. But until now, Hezbollah in Lebanon has been widely believed to be the only group to have received precision-guided missiles (or the required technology to make it in-house).
The revelation about Hamas comes only a day after the Israeli army announced it had dismantled Hamas’s “military framework” in northern Gaza, and was now focusing on central and southern Gaza.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said that the onslaught on Gaza will continue until Hamas is “eliminated.” On Sunday, he told his war cabinet that “the war must not be stopped until we complete all of its goals.”
Netanyahu critics say his military ambitions may be driven by political interests. TheWashington Post on Sunday quoted an unnamed US official as saying “Netanyahu’s political career will end with it, incentivizing him to broaden the conflict.”
This could mean, above all, a possible war with Hezbollah in Lebanon –which is Iran’s most powerful ally and has frequently targeted Israel during the three months since October 7th.
The Lebanese Shiite militant group launched a barrage of rockets towards Israel early Saturday in response to the killing of a senior Hamas official in Beirut Last week. Shortly after, Israel hit several Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon.
Many –including the Biden administration– fear that the regular exchange of fire at the Israeli-Lebanese border would lead to an all-out war, especially since Netanyahu has spoken of a “fundamental change” to address the border fighting with Hezbollah.
The situation seems to be worrying enough for President Joe Biden to have sent his Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on yet another tour of the Middle East to try and prevent any widening of the ongoing conflict, which has killed more than a thousand in Israel and twenty times more in Gaza.
“We have an intense focus on preventing this conflict from spreading,” Blinken said in a meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah.
Even more concerned than the US seems to be the European Union.
On Saturday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said it is “absolutely necessary” that Israel’s onslaught in Gaza does not drag Lebanon into a regional war.
“I am sending this message to Israel, too,” Borrell said after a meeting with the Lebanese foreign ministers, “I think that the war can be prevented, has to be avoided and diplomacy can prevail.”
Iran is also part of that conversation –behind the scenes, perhaps, with the Biden administration but publicly and openly with EU countries.
“I called Iranian Minister A Abdollahian and gave him a very clear message,” French foreign minister Catherine Colonna posted on X Saturday, “the risk of regional conflagration has never been so significant; Iran and its associates must immediately stop their destabilizing actions. No one would gain from escalation.”