As Jerusalem decides how to respond to the massive assault on its citizens, it will at some point consider whether—and how—to retaliate against Tehran, which, along with Qatar, is Hamas’s primary patron, and whose proxy, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, has been fighting alongside Hamas. Herb Keinon writes:
Last week, a senior Hamas commander was in Tehran with other Hamas figures and leaders of Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Similar meetings between terror leaders and Iranian officials also reportedly took place last week in Damascus and Beirut. While Iran has long been providing support to Palestinian organizations, Tehran has an added incentive now to support this terrorism in the hopes that it will derail a budding Saudi Arabia-Israel normalization deal.
For Iran, a fierce Israeli response serves Iran’s purposes because it will fill the Arab and Islamic world with images of Israeli warplanes bombing Gaza, inevitably triggering pressure both within Saudi Arabia and from around the Islamic world not to sign a deal with a regime attacking the Gaza Strip.
After Palestinian terrorists murdered Batsheva Nigri near Hebron in late August, [Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated] that the current wave of terror “Is all guided by Iran, which is looking for any way to harm Israeli citizens.” Without providing any details, he said Israel “will take additional actions that will ensure the security of Israeli citizens and make those responsible pay a price.”
The question in light of Saturday’s massive attack is whether the sheer magnitude of this attack will compel the IDF to send a military message to Iran.
Read more on Jerusalem Post: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-765270