Israel has hinted it is plotting airstrikes to topple the Iranian regime as it seeks retaliation for its missile attack earlier this month.
Tel Aviv has been narrowing down its targets to Iran‘s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its volunteer paramilitary force as it consults the US on its response, The Times has reported.
Although it is unlikely one round of missile strikes would topple the Iranian regime, it has been suggested by a western official the strength of the attack could encourage opposition from within.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement addressed to the Iranian people: ‘Don’t let a small group of fanatic theocrats crush your hopes and your dreams … The people of Iran should know: Israel stands with you.’
‘When Iran is finally free — and that moment will come a lot sooner than people think — everything will be different.’
Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly on September 27
Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system intercepts missiles launched from Gaza
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves before the Friday prayer ceremony in Tehran
The declaration was made in English just a few days before Iran launched 200 missiles into Israel on October 1.
Netanyahu is hoping any future airstrikes will help weaken the two pillars of Iran’s Islamic regime – the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Basij paramilitary force.
While the IRGC is an elite military force, the Basij is a loyalist militia usually made up of foot soldiers.
It comes as Israel warned that Iran will ‘not know what’s hit them’ when the country retaliates.
Israel’s defence minister Yoav Gallant said in a video issued by his office: ‘Whoever attacks us will be hurt and will pay a price.
‘Our attack will be deadly, precise and above all surprising, they will not understand what happened and how it happened, they will see the results.’
Netanyahu has also also promised its arch-foe will pay for its missile attack that ultimately killed no one.
Washington labelled it as ineffective and the Israeli government previously described it as a ‘failure’.
Missiles launched from Iran towards Israel are seen in the West Bank city of Nablus Tuesday, Oct 1, 2024
Iranian demonstrators wave a Palestinian flag and hold up a poster of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an anti-Israeli gathering
This picture shows projectiles being intercepted by Israel above Jerusalem, on October 1, 2024
Meanwhile, Iran warned Israel that the spirit of resistance will be ‘strengthened’ after the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
Sinwar, a mastermind of the Oct 7 attack, was killed during an operation by Israeli soldiers in the Palestinian enclave on Wednesday.
Western leaders said his death offered an opportunity for the conflict to end, but Netanyahu said the war would go on until the hostages seized by Hamas militants were returned.
‘Today we have settled the score. Today evil has been dealt a blow but our task has still not been completed,’ Netanyahu said in a recorded video statement after the death was confirmed on Thursday.
‘To the dear hostage families, I say: This is an important moment in the war. We will continue full force until all your loved ones, our loved ones, are home.’
Israel’s defence minister Yoav Gallant (pictured) said: ‘Whoever attacks us will be hurt and will pay a price’
Iran’s missile strike against Israel on October 1 damaged several targets
A missile breaks up in mid air after being struck by an interceptor fired by one of Israel’s air defence systems
Sinwar, who was named as Hamas’ overall leader following the assassination of political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July, was believed to have been hiding in the warren of tunnels Hamas has built under Gaza over the past two decades.
He was killed during a gun battle in southern Gaza on Wednesday by Israeli troops who were initially unaware that they had caught their country’s number one enemy, Israeli officials said.
The military released drone video of what it said was Sinwar, sitting on an armchair and covered in dust inside a destroyed building.
Hamas has not made any comment itself, but sources within the group have said the indications they have seen suggest Sinwar was indeed killed by Israeli troops.
