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Update (08/02): US forces being redeployed in expectation of Iranian retaliation for recent Israeli assassinations of Hamas/Hezbollah leaders


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8 hours ago, Signifyin(g)Monkey said:

Yikes...

 

I have the feeling that his replacement probably isn't going to be an improvement.:/

 

You're correct in the sense that Haniyeh was considered to be one of the more "moderate" leaders of Hamas (by their standards).

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14 minutes ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said:

Did he only want to kill some of the Jews and not all of them?

 

In the sense that he seemed favorable to the establishment of a long-term "truce" with Israel in exchange for the creation of a Palestinian state in the occupied territories as opposed to the hardliners in the military wing of Hamas for whom the destruction of Israel is the sole objective. 

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The Israelis claim that they knocked off the head of Hamas's military wing last month:

 

WWW.BBC.COM

Hamas has not confirmed the death of Mohammed Deif, who led the group's military wing.

 

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Israel's military says it has confirmed that Hamas's military chief Mohammed Deif was killed in an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip last month.

 

Deif was targeted in the strike on a compound in the Khan Younis area on 13 July. Hamas is yet to confirm his death.

 

Israel says Deif was one of the figures responsible for planning the 7 October attacks in southern Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.

 

 

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In a statement on Thursday, the Israeli military said that "following an intelligence assessment, it can be confirmed that Mohammed Deif was eliminated" in the 13 July strike.

 

Gaza’s Hamas-run health authorities said at the time that the air strike had killed more than 90 people, but denied that Deif was among the dead.

 

Deif was widely seen as the second-ranking Hamas official in Gaza, behind Yahya Sinwar, the group's leader in the territory.

 

 

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  • Commissar SFLUFAN changed the title to Ismail Haniyeh, Chief Political Leader of Hamas, Killed in Iran, update (08/01): Israel claims that it killed the head of Hamas's military wing last month

This operation was about as "Maximum Mossad" as you could get:

 

WWW.NYTIMES.COM

An explosive device hidden in a heavily guarded complex where Ismail Haniyeh was known to stay in Iran was what killed him, according to a Times investigation.

 

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Ismail Haniyeh, a top leader of Hamas, was assassinated on Wednesday by an explosive device covertly smuggled into the Tehran guesthouse where he was staying, according to seven Middle Eastern officials, including two Iranians, and an American official.

 

The bomb had been hidden approximately two months ago in the guesthouse, according to five of the Middle Eastern officials. The guesthouse is run and protected by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and is part of a large compound, known as Neshat, in an upscale neighborhood of northern Tehran.

 

Mr. Haniyeh was in Iran’s capital for the presidential inauguration. The bomb was detonated remotely, the five officials said, once it was confirmed that he was inside his room at the guesthouse. The blast also killed a bodyguard.

 

The explosion shook the building, shattered some windows and caused the partial collapse of an exterior wall, according to the two Iranian officials, members of the Revolutionary Guards briefed on the incident. Such damage was also evident in a photograph of the building shared with The New York Times.

 

Mr. Haniyeh, who had led Hamas’s political office in Qatar, had stayed at the guesthouse several times when visiting Tehran, according to the Middle Eastern officials. All of the officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to share sensitive details about the assassination.

 

 

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Such a breach, three Iranian officials said, was a catastrophic failure of intelligence and security for Iran and a tremendous embarrassment for the Guards, which uses the compound for retreats, secret meetings and housing prominent guests like Mr. Haniyeh.

 

How the bomb was stashed in the guesthouse remained unclear. The Middle Eastern officials said that the planning for the assassination took months and required extensive surveillance of the compound. The two Iranian officials who described the nature of the assassination said they did not know how or when the explosives were planted in the room.

 

 

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  • Commissar SFLUFAN changed the title to Update (08/01): Israel assassinated Hamas's political leader using a bomb that was smuggled into his Tehran guest house "months" ago

Here's the really intriguing part of this operation:

 

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The leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Ziyad al-Nakhalah, was staying next door, two of the Iranian officials said. His room was not badly damaged, suggesting precise planning in the targeting of Mr. Haniyeh.

 

I can absolutely guarantee that the leader of the PIJ is on the "kill list" so the fact that the Mossad didn't take advantage of that target of opportunity indicates that they were very single-minded for this operation.

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U.S. prepares to counter Iranian attack on Israel within days, U.S. officials say (Axios)

 

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The Biden administration is convinced Iran is going to attack Israel in retaliation for the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran earlier this week and is preparing to counter it, three U.S. officials told Axios.

 

Why it matters: U.S. officials say they expect any Iranian retaliation to be from the same playbook as their Apr. 13 attack on Israel — but potentially larger in scope — and it could also involve the Lebanese Hezbollah.

 

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Behind the scenes: The U.S. intelligence community started receiving clear indications on Wednesday that Iran is going to retaliate, a U.S. official said.

  • Two U.S. officials said it could take the Iranians and their proxies a few days to coordinate and prepare an attack on Israel.
  • Another U.S. official said the Pentagon and U.S. Central Command are taking similar preparations to those they made ahead of the attack in April.
  • The official said the preparations involve U.S. military assets in the Gulf, the Eastern Mediterranean and the Red sea.
  • "We expect a few rough days," the official said.
  • A senior Israeli official said the Israeli intelligence community expects Iran will launch a wide-ranging missile attack on Israel.

 

 

US redeploying forces to protect Israel from Iran retaliation, Biden says (Financial Times)

 

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US President Joe Biden said that the US military was redeploying forces in the Middle East in order to protect Israel from an expected future attack by Iran and its proxy forces, while also urging for a de-escalation of regional tensions and a ceasefire for Gaza.

 

The comments came after a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid growing concerns that Iran and other allied militant groups were set to retaliate for the killings this week of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Fuad Shukr, a senior military commander from Lebanon-based Hizbollah.

 

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The White House said Biden and Netanyahu spoke about “efforts to support Israel’s defence against threats, including against ballistic missiles and drones,” which also included “new defensive US military deployments”.

 

The US president also reaffirmed his commitment to Israel’s security, yet later stressed the need for Netanyahu to seize the opportunity for a ceasefire deal in Gaza that could help lower tensions across the region.

 

“I had a very direct meeting with the prime minister. We have the basis for a ceasefire. They should move on it and move on it now,” Biden told reporters on Thursday night at Joint Base Andrews, in Maryland.

 

He added that the killing of Haniyeh had “not helped” the prospects of reaching a deal between Israel and Hamas, which mediators hope will halt the 10-month-old conflict in Gaza, release the Israeli hostages still in captivity, and avert a full-blown regional war.

 

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  • Commissar SFLUFAN changed the title to Update (08/02): US forces being redeployed in expectation of Iranian retaliation for recent Israeli assassinations of Hamas/Hezbollah leaders
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