Israel on Monday accused Tehran and its Palestinian terrorist proxy Hamas of smuggling weapons into Jordan and the West Bank to destabilize these areas because the world braces for a doable retaliatory strike from Iran.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz mentioned Monday {that a} “serious and dangerous situation is unfolding in Iran.”
Katz alleged that Iranian Revolutionary Guard Units are collaborating with Hamas operatives in Lebanon to smuggle weapons and funds into Jordan “with the aim of destabilizing the regime.”
From there, Katz mentioned, the weapons are smuggled into the West Bank, flooding areas like Judea and Samaria the place there are refugee camps, “with dangerous weapons and large sums of money – aiming to create a pro-Iranian Islamic terror front.”
Katz mentioned Iran’s efficient management of those refugee camps within the West Bank leaves the Palestinian Authority “powerless to act.”
PRO-ISRAEL GROUP WAITS FOR PERMIT TO MARCH NEAR DNC IN CHICAGO: WE WANT TO ‘STAND UP FOR AMERICA’
“We must take terror hubs like the Jenin refugee camp and carry out a thorough operational campaign to dismantle the terror infrastructure in the camp,” Katz mentioned, calling such a plan “a shared interest of Israel, many regional states, and the entire free world – to halt the spread of Iran’s axis of evil.”
Katz’s assertion comes as Israel is bracing for a doable retaliatory strike from Iran in response to the assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran late final month.
Israel was instantly blamed for the assassination after pledging to kill Haniyeh and different Hamas leaders over the terrorist group’s Oct. 7 assault on the Jewish state, which killed 1,200 folks and noticed a whole lot extra taken hostage.
IRAN COULD ATTACK ISRAEL IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS, SOURCES SAY, AS WESTERN POWERS ISSUE TEHRAN A WARNING
Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon additionally late final month confirmed the loss of life of Faud Shukr, its “No. 2” commander who was concerned within the 1983 Beirut bombings of a Marine barracks bombing that killed 241 U.S. army personnel.
This comes as mediators United States, Qatar, and Egypt have been pushing for ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas to finish the 10-month warfare.
Mediators have spent months attempting to get the edges to conform to a three-phase plan through which Hamas would launch the remaining hostages captured in its Oct. 7 assault in alternate for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel and Israel would withdraw from Gaza. Talks have been anticipated to renew Thursday.
On Monday, France, Germany and Britain issued a joint assertion endorsing the plan, whereas calling for the return of scores of hostages held by Hamas and the “unfettered” supply of humanitarian assist.
–
The assertion was signed by French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. It additionally known as on Iran and its allies to chorus from any retaliatory assaults that will additional escalate regional tensions.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.