The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Iran promises payback for strike
Leaders vow to hit back after attack blamed on Israel.
Iranian leaders renewed their promises to hit back after an airstrike widely blamed on Israel destroyed Iran’s Consulate in Syria, killing 12 people, including two elite Iranian generals. Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi said Wednesday the attack “will not remain without answer.”
The U.S. is concerned the deadly strike in Damascus could trigger new attacks on American troops by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria, said Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, the top U.S. Air Force commander for the Middle East.
Iran and its allies — including the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and other armed groups in Syria, Iraq and Yemen — have repeatedly traded fire with Israel and the U.S. since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza.
By attacking an Iranian diplomatic station, Israel’s apparent escalation has raised fears that the devastating six-month war against Hamas could spill over into the entire Mideast region and beyond.
Israel faces growing isolation as international criticism mounts over its killing of seven foreign aid workers this week who were helping deliver desperately needed food in Gaza. The United Nations says much of the population in northern Gaza is on the brink of starvation.
Israel war cabinet member Gantz calls for new elections
A member of Israel’s threeman war Cabinet has called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to new elections later this year.
Benny Gantz made the call in a news conference Wednesday. He says elections are needed to renew the public’s faith in the government.
Israeli society has grown increasingly divided in recent months as the war in Gaza has dragged on and the government has struggled to return dozens of hostages held captive by Hamas.
This week, families of the hostages joined a broader protest movement seeking Netanyahu’s resignation and new elections.
Protests this week near Netanyahu’s residence turned violent with clashes between demonstrators and police.
Gantz called for an agreedupon date for elections in September — two years ahead of schedule. He said that would leave time to continue the war against Hamas “while allowing the citizens to know that we will soon renew the trust between us and prevent a rift among the people.”
Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected calls to step down or hold new elections in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that sparked the war. He says the government must focus on the war.
Since Oct. 7, Netanyahu’s popularity has plummeted in opinion polls, trailing far behind Gantz.
WH reiterates Israel support despite aid worker killings
White House national security spokesman John Kirby on Wednesday underscored that the Biden administration continues to support Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas following this week’s Israeli strike that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers.
Still, Kirby said Israel must do more to not kill and wound innocent civilians and aid workers as it carries out its operations in Gaza.
“As a modern military and a democracy, they have obligations to the innocent people of Gaza and they have not always have met those obligations,” Kirby said.
“We are concerned about the methods too.”
The strikes on the charity’s convoy highlighted what critics have called Israel’s indiscriminate bombing and lack of regard for civilian casualties in Gaza. Israel blames Hamas for civilian deaths, saying it operates in populated areas.
Israel’s military chief says the deadly strike was the result of a “misidentification” in complex conditions.
Announcing the results of a preliminary investigation early Wednesday, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi expressed remorse over the killings and called the event a “grave mistake.”
“It was a mistake that followed a misidentification – at night during a war in very complex conditions.
“It shouldn’t have happened,” he said.
He gave no further details. He said the conclusions of the independent investigation would be implemented immediately and shared with World Central Kitchen and other “relevant” international organizations.
“We see great importance in the continued delivery of humanitarian aid, and we will keep working to facilitate this vital effort,” he said.
Houthis may be low on supplies, U.S. commander says
Houthi rebels in Yemen may be running through their supplies of drone swarms and anti-ship ballistic missiles as the pace of their attacks has slowed a bit, the top U.S. Air Force commander for the Middle East said Wednesday.
Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, who heads U.S. Air Forces Central, said that the persistent American retaliatory strikes on the Iranbacked militia group have “certainly affected their behavior. Their pace of operations is not what it was.”
The Houthis have been conducting near daily attacks on commercial and military ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, launching drones and missiles from rebel-held areas of Yemen. The attacks -- which are often unsuccessful but at times have struck the ships — have disrupted a crucial shipping route.
In response, the U.S. and allies have been forced to increase their military ship presence along the waterway, and on several occasions have launched wider retaliatory strikes on ammunition, weapons and other facilities. U.S. ships and fighter jets have also been routinely bombing Houthi drones and missiles that are in place and preparing to launch.
Grynkewich said it’s difficult to know how much the Houthis’ weapons supplies have been eroded by the U.S. strikes, because officials didn’t have a detailed intelligence assessment of capabilities before the attacks.
“The challenge for us is understanding what the denominator was at the beginning. In other words, what did they have on hand to start with? We obviously know how much we have struck and we have assessments of how successful those strikes were,” he said. “The other complicating factor is Iranian resupply.”