A top Iranian military adviser on Sunday warned Israel that its embassies are not safe following last week's strike in Damascus blamed on Israel that killed two top Iranian generals. Regional tensions threaten to draw the Middle East into a wider conflict as the Israel-Hamas war marks six months. The remarks by Gen. Rahim Safavi, a military adviser to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, signaled that the attack on a diplomatic mission could be met with a similar response. Israel has not directly acknowledged its involvement. "None of the embassies of the (Israeli) regime are safe anymore," Safavi was quoted as saying by the semi-official Tasnim agency. He spoke at a ceremony in Tehran for the generals killed in the strike, the AP reports.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was prepared for any response. "Whoever harms us or plans to harm us, we will harm them," he told a Cabinet meeting. The tensions came at the six-month mark of the war, which began when Hamas-led militants crossed from Gaza into Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 captive. Israel retaliated with a fierce bombardment and ground offensive that has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to local health authorities. Also Sunday, Israel's military announced it was drawing back forces from the 98th paratroopers division operating in the area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, bringing troop levels in Gaza to some of the lowest levels of the war.
The forces withdrew to recuperate and prepare for future operations, said Israeli military officials. Israel has vowed a ground offensive on the Gaza city of Rafah, considered Hamas' last stronghold. But the area shelters some 1.4 million people, and the prospect of an offensive has raised global alarm—including from the US, which has demanded to see a plan to protect civilians. Frustration is growing in Israel, where protests have swelled and anger is mounting over what some see as government inaction to help free the remaining 130 or so hostages, per the AP.
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