Israel on Monday accused Tehran and its Palestinian terror proxy Hamas of smuggling weapons into Jordan and the West Bank to destabilize the regions, as the world braces for possible retaliatory strikes from Iran.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Monday that “a serious and dangerous situation is emerging in Iran.”
Katz claimed that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards were working with Hamas operatives in Lebanon to smuggle weapons and funds into Jordan “with the goal of destabilizing the regime.”
From there, the weapons were smuggled into the West Bank, flooding areas with refugee camps such as Judea and Samaria, Katz said, “with dangerous weapons and large amounts of money – aimed at building a pro-Iranian Islamic Terror Front.
Katz said Iran’s effective control of the West Bank refugee camps left the Palestinian Authority “incapable of taking action.”
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“We must seize centers of terror like the Jenin refugee camp and carry out sweeping operations to dismantle the terror infrastructure in the camps,” Katz said. He called the plan “consistent with Israel, with many regional countries and with free nations as a whole.” common interests”. World – Stop the spread of Iran’s axis of evil. ”
Katz’s statement comes as Israel prepares for possible retaliatory strikes by Iran over the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran late last month.
On August 1, Iranian mourners chanted anti-American and anti-Israel slogans while attending the funeral of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and his bodyguard Abu Shaaban in Tehran, Iran. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Israel was immediately blamed for the assassination after promising to kill Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders for their October 7 attack on the Jewish state. Hundreds of people were taken hostage.
Sources say Western forces have warned Tehran that Iran could attack Israel in less than 24 hours
Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah militants also confirmed late last month the death of their “number two” commander, Faud Shukr, who was involved in the 1983 bombing of a Marine barracks in Beirut that killed 241 people. U.S. military personnel died.
A worker uses a backhoe to move a building damaged by an Israeli airstrike as he walks through the rubble in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on Tuesday night. (AP/Hussein Malla)
Meanwhile, mediators from the United States, Qatar and Egypt have been pushing for ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas to end the 10-month war.
Mediators have spent months trying to get both sides to agree to a three-phase plan in which Hamas would release the remaining hostages captured in the Oct. 7 attack in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, and Israel would Withdrawal from Gaza. Talks are expected to resume on Thursday.
On Monday, France, Germany and Britain issued a joint statement supporting the plan while calling for the return of dozens of hostages held by Hamas and “unrestricted” humanitarian aid.
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The statement was signed by French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. It also called on Iran and its allies to refrain from any retaliatory attacks that could further escalate regional tensions.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
