Israeli ground operations continued in Gaza City on Monday, as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported close-quarters combat with Hamas militants, resulting in the death of multiple Palestinians.
According to Gaza-based health authorities, at least 37 Palestinians were killed across the Palestinian enclave on Monday as a result of Israeli military operations.
The IDF also announced that ahead of the Jewish holiday season -- which began on Monday evening with the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah -- it "has bolstered combat zones with forces in the air, at sea, on land, and across all operational units".
On the same day, the chief of the IDF Central Command, Major General Avi Bluth, warned of an escalation in the West Bank over the Jewish holiday season. He pointed to recent international developments -- specifically, the formal recognition of the State of Palestine by multiple countries -- as a contributing factor to the heightened volatility.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Monday that Israel can and must destroy what he called the "Iranian axis".
He said that the coming year would be "a historic year for Israel's security", adding that the country is "determined to achieve all its war objectives".
Multiple Palestinians killed as IDF continues ground offensive in Gaza City
Multiple Palestinians killed as IDF continues ground offensive in Gaza City
Multiple Palestinians killed as IDF continues ground offensive in Gaza City
As the diplomatic engagement between the United States and Iran continues despite a faltering ceasefire, a former commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has said that Iran is prepared to use military power to break the U.S. maritime blockade should the negotiations collapse or run on too long.
Mohsen Rezaee, who also currently serves as a member of the Iranian Expediency Discernment Council, struck a confident tone about Iran's current trajectory in an exclusive interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) in Tehran on Wednesday.
He said the country has withstood over two decades of crippling sanctions and continued to move forward.
"We have been under sanctions for more than 20 years. The number of sanctions likely exceeds 2,000, targeting individuals, enterprises, corporations, ships, insurance companies, and even foreign countries that interacted with us. However, we have managed to find solutions to neutralize these sanctions, and we will continue to do so moving forward," he said.
He said Iran aims to ease the sanctions burden through talks with the U.S., although at the same time, he said, Iran is ready to shift to a military response if the path to a peaceful resolution closes.
"Furthermore, we will compel the U.S. to lift these sanctions. We will force the U.S. to end the maritime blockade -- either through negotiations or, should they resist, through direct action and we will attack U.S. warships. Therefore, despite all the pressures, the future of our economy is bright and promising, while the future of the US economy is bleak," he said.
While any new war against Iran would be a dead end, the best way out for the U.S. is to continue talks, according to the senior official.
"We have prepared ourselves so that if the maritime blockade continues beyond a certain timeframe, we will launch an attack and break the blockade. The Americans have no choice but to negotiate. Continuing this war is a journey into a very dark tunnel for the United States. The more America chooses to fight, the deeper it enters a tunnel with no end. Yet for us, the path is perfectly clear. America is moving toward us in the dark, while we are monitoring their every move," he said.
Former IRGC chief says Iran ready to break U.S. naval blockade by force if talks fail
