One year after the October 7 massacre carried out by Hamas in southern Israel, which was followed by the outbreak of war in Gaza, the Middle East and the world are holding their breath for the expected attack by the Jewish State on Iran. On October 1, Tehran launched around 200 ballistic missiles against Israeli territory, calling it a response to the killings of Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon and the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in the heart of Tehran on July 31. Israel in turn promised a response and, in this context, Iran announced the suspension of some flights starting this evening and until Monday morning. Meanwhile, the US has made it known that the Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, will be at the Pentagon on 9 October and will meet with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin “to discuss security developments in the Middle East”.
Iran did not provide reasons or even details for the stoppage of flights. The Iranian state news agency IRNA limited itself to talking about “operational restrictions” and reported that some flights were suspended between 9pm on Sunday and 6am on Monday morning local time (i.e. between 7.30pm on Sunday and 4.30 on Monday Italian time). The announcement was added a few hours after Gallant had threatened Iran by alluding to the destruction of Gaza and Lebanon: “The Iranians have not made a dent in the capabilities of Israel’s air force”, “not a single plane has been damaged” and “Anyone who thinks that an attempt to attack us will discourage us from taking action should look at what is happening in Gaza and Beirut,” the Israeli defense chief said during a visit to Nevatim air base, which suffered damage in the Iranian attack on October 1st. But Tehran, through army sources, has made it known that it already has a response plan ready to be triggered in the event of an Israeli attack: “if Israel acts, the Iranian counterattack will be implemented”, said the source quoted by the Tasnim agency , explaining that the Iranian plan envisages different types of attack and that an immediate decision will then be made on the execution of one or more operations depending on what the Jewish State’s move will be.
On the anniversary of 7 October, Israel is on maximum alert: with the restrictions introduced by the IDF’s ‘home front command’ due to the risk of rocket attacks which have limited public gatherings to a maximum of 2 thousand people, participation has been reduced to the families of the victims only. at the unofficial commemoration organized by the families on October 7 at Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv. While for the official ceremony, which will be broadcast pre-recorded, there was controversy over the choice to entrust its organization to the Minister of Transport, Miri Regev, a choice criticized by some who interpreted it as a move to avoid taking responsibility for the security failure on October 7 last year. In an assumption of responsibility, IDF chief Herzl Halevi admitted that last year “we failed in our mission to protect the citizens of the State of Israel”, but claimed that “in the last year we have defeated the arm Hamas military”, warning however that it is a “long war”.
A year later, Israel is still fighting Hamas in Gaza, has opened another front in Lebanon against Hezbollah and has vowed to strike Iran after Iran’s October 1 attack. In Gaza, the IDF announced a new air and ground offensive in Jabaliya, in the north of the Strip, where there is a densely populated refugee camp that dates back to the 1948 war that led to the creation of the State of Israel. Israel believes it is Hamas’ new base and has surrounded the camp; according to Palestinian sources the death toll is 17, including 9 children. Furthermore, over 30 Israeli raids hit the southern suburbs of Beirut during the night between Saturday and Sunday, the heaviest bombing since September 23rd.
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