Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu has announced the beginning of the third stage of the operation in Gaza. In parallel, Yemen has declared war on Israel, and the Lebanese Hezbollah is lightly shelling the border areas of Israel, making video clips every day. Türkiye has begun to actively interfere in this process, and its diplomatic relations with Israel have been stopped. Israeli expert Mikhail Finkel talks to Minval.az about the processes unfolding in the Middle East.
Yesterday, the Prime Minister of Israel announced the beginning of the “third stage” of the Gaza operation. What does the third stage entail? How are Israel’s troops advancing in Gaza?
The final part of our war against the “terrorists” of Hamas, recognized as such by many nations of the world after their unprovoked attack on Israel, killing some 1,400 people and taking more than 200 captives, has begun today. The third stage means this: our tanks, armored vehicles, attack UAVs and aircraft are already on the offensive in the Gaza Strip. The vast majority of the people of Gaza are already in the south of the enclave, on the border with Egypt, they are safe. Israel announced to them where to go, scattered leaflets. And the Palestinians have been doing that. Those who are left are trapped as human shields, Hamas is using them for cover.
Our goal is as follows: to kill every Hamas member with a weapon in their hands. If they surrender, we will take them prisoner and let them live. There can be no mercy for terrorists who desecrate the noble name of Muslim. They have signed their own death warrant. We will free the Arab people of Gaza from the terrorist organization Hamas, which has seized power there by canceling elections. Hamas must be destroyed so that there can be no other terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip.
Iran denies involvement in the war over Gaza. Iran is not prepared to shoulder that responsibility. Do you expect a regional war in the Middle East?
The fact that Iran has trained, sponsored and armed Hamas has been reported by the leaders of the organization themselves. There is ample evidence and proof of that. Iran is now denying it, but that is because it is a coward and afraid of Israel. Moreover, Iran is afraid of the United States, whose warships are here with a massive number of F-16 and F-35 airplanes. There will be no regional war in the Middle East because there is no one to fight.
As they say in Argentina, “it takes two to tango”. There is no one to fight against; Iran is afraid, Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite organization, is afraid and has its tail between its legs. Hamas is alone and has been abandoned by everyone, it certainly did not expect this response from Israel. We will crush and destroy it if we have to, we will fight on multiple fronts if we have to, we will destroy Hezbollah if we have to, we will grind Iran to dust if we have to. We are not afraid of anyone, we are the strongest country in the Middle East. We believe in God who helps us in our righteous cause.
Just a few hours ago, Yemen declared war on Israel. However, given the geography, how will this declaration of war affect Israel?
Yemen, a weak semi-terrorist country, has declared war on us. Given the geography, this is completely irrelevant. If a single Yemeni missile falls on the territory of Israel, we can respond in a way that throws it back to the stone age. I do not believe they have gotten very far from the stone age anyway, but we can make it so in ways it cannot even begin to imagine. Because the terrorists who have declared war on us need to understand that there is a price to pay for everything. Right now there is only talk to get something from Iran. We do not take this talk seriously. But if a single missile falls on our ship, our army, Yemen will pay a very dear price for this folly.
Will Israel deal with Hezbollah after Hamas or will it be happening concurrently?
We have been trading blows with Hezbollah for a month now, but it is very limited. They are artillery and mortar attacks. However, should Hezbollah attempt a serious missile strike on Israel, including our civilian targets, there will be such a crushing Israeli Air Force strike on Lebanon that we will destroy Hezbollah once and for all. They know this very well, and they are afraid of us.
Nijat Hajiyev
Translated from Minval.az
