Common Dreams reports: “‘A Pariah State’: Israel Denounced for Banning UN Chief“. Reuters reports Wednesday: “Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 65 Palestinians overnight, including in a school sheltering displaced families, medics said, as Israeli tanks advanced in areas of Khan Younis in the south of the enclave.” One strike on a school injured a three-month old girl, Hala Ahmed, according to Euro-Med Monitor.
SINA TOOSSI, stoossi@internationalpolicy.org, @SinaToossi
Toossi is a senior nonresident fellow at the Center for International Policy. He is quoted in the Drop Site News piece “‘Escalate to De-escalate’: What Led Iran to Attack Israel”: “’After a string of assassinations and other Israeli escalations in recent weeks, Iran is trying to create a new deterrence equilibrium. They are saying that we can still hit you, and we can hit you hard,’ said Sina Toossi, a senior non-resident fellow at the Center for International Policy. ‘Iran is actually trying to “escalate to de-escalate” here. They had pursued a policy of strategic patience, but many people inside Iran had already been saying that if they had responded forcefully to the killing of Haniyeh, there would not have been the strike against Nasrallah.’” Last month, Toossi wrote the piece “Iran’s New Outreach to the West Is Risky” in Foreign Policy.
He notes in recent posts: “Mohammad Bagheri, Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces: ‘We targeted three key airbases, including Mossad HQ and the one linked to Nasrallah’s assassination.’” Also targeted according to the Jerusalem Post was Dimona, the site of Israel’s nuclear weapons production facility.
Toossi also notes: “The IDF acknowledged the deaths of eight soldiers in its initial incursions into Lebanon, while Hezbollah claims to have destroyed three Merkava tanks as well. …
“Today, in his first speech since yesterday’s attack on Israel, Iran’s SL [Supreme Leader] Khamenei didn’t mention Israel but said he’ll soon discuss ‘issues in Lebanon & Gaza.’ He blamed the US & ‘some European nations’ for fueling conflict in the region but preaching ‘peace & stability.’ …
“Imperial overstretch has been the downfall of every empire — when security commitments exceed capabilities to meet them. Today, the US could be drawn into WWIII if Russia invades Latvia, China attacks Taiwan, or Iran goes to war with Israel, or risk losing its global hegemony. Ironically, ending the US pursuit of global hegemony would likely actually boost everyday Americans’ prosperity and security. But for US plutocrats, it would mean losing global leverage and preferential market access. …
“Iranian missiles flying over Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock carry symbolic weight, and serve as tools for Iranian soft power in the Arab and Muslim world.”