Israel at war: Islamic State claims Iran twin bombings, US kills Iran-backed militia leader in Iraq
The Australian | Staff Writers | 05.01.24
Islamic State says suicide bombers caused Iran blasts
by Staff Writers
Islamic State militants have claimed responsibility for a pair of bombings that killed dozens of people a day earlier in the largest attack in Iran since the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, dispelling suspicions that Israel might have been behind the attack amid worries of a broadening regional conflagration.
The blasts took place with the Middle East on edge because of the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas—an Islamist militant group that has moved closer to Iran in recent years—and increasing tensions between the US and Israel on one side and other Iranian-backed militant groups in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen on the other.
Islamic State said in a statement that two of its operatives had detonated explosive belts at the public ceremony in the southeastern town of Kerman where crowds were commemorating the death of Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ elite Quds Force, who was killed in January 2020 by a US airstrike.
The ideology of Islamic State, a hardline Sunni group, considers Shiite Muslims, which make up a majority of Iran’s population, to be apostates.
Iranian authorities are investigating the blasts and have vowed revenge. The Fars news agency, which is close to the country’s security forces, cited an unnamed person who confirmed that the attack was carried out by two suicide attackers, comparing it to a 2022 assault claimed by Islamic State on a Shiite mosque in the southern city of Shiraz.
The militant group, which has spawned affiliates in Asia and Africa after being pushed off territory in Iraq and Syria, carried out two simultaneous attacks on Tehran in June 2017 that targeted the Iranian parliament building and the mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who founded the Islamic Republic.
IRNA, Iran’s state news agency, previously said the explosions were caused by a pair of remote-controlled explosive devices amid conflicting reports and accusations by Iranian government officials.
– The Wall Street Journal
Minister says Palestinians will run Gaza after war
by Staff Writers
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has reiterated that local Palestinians will be in charge of civilian affairs in Gaza after the war while Israel will maintain overall security control over the enclave.
The Times of Israel reported: While these stances are shared by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the emphasis on Palestinian civilian control over Gaza and the lack of Israeli civilian presence there has angered hardline coalition partners, with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich speaking out against the plan while a member of the war cabinet suggested that the defence minister is merely speaking for himself.
“There will be no Israeli civilian presence in the Gaza Strip after the goals of the war have been achieved,” Mr Gallant said in a briefing to reporters.
“Gaza residents are Palestinian, therefore Palestinian bodies will be in charge on the condition that there will be no hostility to Israel,” he said.
The minister said that Israel would not allow Hamas to control Gaza, nor pose a security threat to its citizens. As such, it would reserve its operational freedom of action in Gaza.
Mr Gallant also outlined a “four-cornered civilian square,” including Israel, the Palestinians, a multinational task force and Egypt.
Israel “will provide information to guide civilian operations” and also carry out inspection of goods entering Gaza in order to ensure that no weapons are smuggled into the enclave, Mr Gallant said.
A Palestinian entity in charge of governing Gaza would build on existing administrative mechanisms to help restore operations in the Strip.
A multinational force led by the United States in partnership with Israel’s European and Arab allies would take responsibility for the reconstruction of Gaza after the war, the minister said.
Riyadh, Doha condemn Israeli calls for emigration
by Agency Writers
Saudi Arabia and Qatar have condemned comments by two Israeli ministers calling for Palestinians to emigrate from the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Monday called for promoting “a solution to encourage the emigration of Gaza’s residents” and the re-establishment of Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip, a day after far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich made similar comments.
Saudi Arabia “categorically condemns and rejects the comments of the two ministers,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The kingdom called on the international community to act in the face of the Israeli government’s “persistence” in violating international law “through its statements and actions”.
Qatar, which played a mediating role in the temporary truce between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas at the end of November, also “condemned in the strongest terms” the comments made by the two ministers.
“The policy of collective punishment and forced displacement practised by the occupation authorities against the inhabitants of Gaza will not change the fact that Gaza is Palestinian land and will remain Palestinian,” reads a statement published by Qatar’s foreign ministry.
The United States, France and the European Union have also denounced the comments.
The Israeli government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not officially suggested plans to evict Gazans or to send Jewish settlers back to the territory since the war broke out in October.