Gaza war tensions spike after deadly Iran blasts, Lebanon killing

  • No claim of responsibility as yet
  • Iran vows to track down attackers
  • Qassem Soleimani was killed in an US drone attack in Iraq in 2020
People gather at the scene of explosions during a ceremony held to mark the death of late Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, in Kerman on January 3, 2024. Photo: Reuters

Fears that Israel’s war in Gaza could spiral across the Middle East mounted on Wednesday after twin explosions ripped through an Iranian crowd, claiming at least 95 lives following a strike in Lebanon that killed Hamas’s deputy leader.

More than 200 other people were wounded when the blasts about 15 minutes apart struck mourners commemorating slain Revolutionary Guards general Qasem Soleimani on the fourth anniversary of his killing in a United States drone strike, Iran’s state media reported.

No group claimed responsibility for the blasts which, according to AFP archives, were the country’s deadliest attack since a 1978 arson that killed at least 377 people.

State-run TV labelled the blasts a “terrorist attack.” They came with regional tensions already soaring a day after the Beirut strike which killed Hamas number two Saleh al-Aruri.

A US official on Wednesday told AFP “an Israeli strike” took the life of Aruri, the most high-profile figure killed during the nearly three months that Israel has been at war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Following Tuesday’s unclaimed Beirut attack, Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said the military was “highly prepared for any scenario.”

He did not comment directly on the killing of Aruri, who Hamas said will be buried on Thursday in Beirut’s Shatila Palestinian refugee camp.

Israel and Iran have long been bitter enemies. Violence involving Iran-backed groups in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen has spiked during the Gaza war sparked by the unprecedented October 7 resistance campaign by Palestinian group Hamas on southern Israel.

There have been repeated, deadly exchanges of fire across the Lebanon-Israel border, attacks on shipping in the Red Sea area vital for global trade, and strikes against US-led coalition forces in Iraq and Syria.

More intense wider warfare has so far been avoided, but the Iran blasts rattled global markets, sending oil prices up by more than 3%.

Following the Aruri killing, Germany warned its citizens to leave Lebanon quickly and said, “further deterioration of the situation and expansion of the conflict cannot be ruled out.”

Cross-border fire

Israel vowed to destroy Hamas, launching a relentless bombardment and ground invasion that has reduced swathes of Gaza to rubble and claimed at least 22,313 lives, according to the territory’s health ministry.

The United Nations estimates 1.9 million Gazans are displaced, and the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of the risk of famine and disease, with only a minimal amount of aid entering.

After Tuesday’s killing of Aruri, Lebanon’s Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah blamed its foe Israel for the strike in its Shia Muslim stronghold of southern Beirut.

Although Israel did not claim the assassination, Hamas and Lebanese security sources accused it of killing Aruri, 57, a founder of the Hamas military wing.

Hezbollah vowed the killing of Aruri and six other Hamas operatives would not go unpunished, labelling it “a serious assault on Lebanon… and a dangerous development.”

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned Israel against all-out war on the country to its north. But in a televised speech he also said Israel has sent “messages” that it was “settling scores” with Hamas leaders and did not intend to target Lebanon or Hezbollah.

During the Israel-Hamas war, including on Wednesday, Israel has traded regular cross-border fire with fighters, mainly Hamas ally Hezbollah.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said the Beirut strike proved Israel “has not achieved any of its goals.”

A few hours after those remarks, blasts in Soleimani’s hometown of Kerman, Iran, tore through crowds gathered to honour Soleimani, the commander killed in a 2020 Baghdad drone strike by Israel’s top ally the US.

Soleimani headed the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, setting Iran’s political and military agenda across the region.

Iran declared on Thursday a day of mourning. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blamed “evil and criminal enemies of the Iranian nation” and said: “This disaster will have a harsh response, God willing.”

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