Israel to switch focus of attack to Iran's heavily protected south

As Israel waits to see if the
United States
will join
its war against Iran
, there has been no let-up in the military campaign, now in its second week.
Control of the skies over Tehran and western
Iran
has enabled
Israeli
aircraft to operate with impunity. This includes drones and surveillance aircraft around the clock.
Israel's next aim is to extend air superiority over southern Iran, an area densely packed with strategic sites, including the concealed enrichment facility of Fordow.
Parts of southeastern Iran are considered among the most heavily protected in the Islamic republic, defended by a dense network of the country's most advanced domestically produced anti-aircraft systems.
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The area also has many missile launchers, which are a top priority for Israel. Iran continues to fire projectiles every day across Israel – some landed in Israel's second and third cities, Haifa and Beer Sheva, on Friday.
The Israeli military estimates that about a third of Iran's surface-to-surface missile launchers have been destroyed, with another third damaged.
While regime change is not a declared war aim, Israel has stepped up its strikes on symbols of the Islamic republic, particularly following Thursday's hit on Beer Sheva's Seroka hospital, which prompted defence minister Israel Katz to declare that Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 'can no longer be allowed to exist'.
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Without an exit strategy, Israel risks bringing destruction to its doorstep in a war of attrition against Iran
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]
He confirmed on Friday that he had instructed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to increase attacks to 'undermine the regime'.
Israel 'must strike all government targets and the mechanisms of oppression, such as the Basij' – a volunteer militia – 'and the regime's power base, like the Revolutionary Guard Corps', Katz said.
He also said Israel must also 'bring about a widespread evacuation of the population from Tehran, in order to undermine the regime'.
Israel's air strikes are also focused on hitting the Iranians' ability to swiftly recover after the war. Missile- and weapons-production systems have increasingly been struck and Israel's justification for hitting the nuclear reactor in Arak, which is not in use, is that it could be reactivated.
According to some military commentators, the extra time granted by Trump's procrastination appears to be advantageous for Israeli military planners.
Despite the achievements of the Israeli military, the entry of the US would expedite the war's end. The US is likely to have the capacity to destroy the underground facility in Fordow, and the Israeli administration believes its involvement would endanger the regime and force Iran's leaders to agree to a nuclear deal in the interests of their own survival.

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Irish Examiner

3 hours ago

• Irish Examiner

Letters to the Editor: Death trap food aid centres in Gaza

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If, for example, Britain's Channel 4 or the US' CBS News was in Gaza reporting on the war, violence, deaths, and brutal injuries of civilians with their videos of hospitals hit by Israel's missile attacks with some of the dead and wounded medics, nurses, doctors, patients, children or babies; it would have had a faster impact on governments calling on Israel to end the targeting of civilians in the most miserable war of the 21st century. Experienced aid agencies run by the UN, Britain, etc, have been more restricted in Gaza since March. There are requests for the UN to be let fully back in to deliver aid safely. Israel has a right as any country to ensure its security — but daily, casual killings by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) of civilians in Gaza is truly reprehensible. All moral lines are violated in this war. No protection for the civilian population. I hope Hamas will release the remaining hostages it took into Gaza in October 2023. They too endure terrible conditions. 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Irish Times

9 hours ago

• Irish Times

Irish embassy in Tehran closed due to ‘deteriorating situation'

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Irish Times

10 hours ago

• Irish Times

‘Indications' Israel breached human rights obligations during Gaza war, EU review finds

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