Israel's military carried out attacks in a third country during Gaza operation

Jerusalem: Israel Defence Forces chief Aviv Kochavi announced that the Israeli military had carried out strikes in a “third country” during its operation against terrorists in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli defence chief has not disclosed the name of the third country. But his claim has created a stir.

In the first week of August, the terrorist organization ‘Palestinian Islamic Jihad-PIJ’ fired hundreds of rockets into Israel. In response, the Israeli army launched airstrikes on Gaza under the military operation ‘Breaking Dawn’. After the conflict between August 5th and 8th, a cease-fire brokered by Egypt was implemented between Israel and the PIJ.

Chief of Defence Forces of Israel, Lt. Gen. Kochavi, speaking at the Federation of Local Authorities meeting, gave information about the operations in Gaza between August 5 and 8. Chief of Defence Forces Kochavi said, ‘The Israeli army launched a precise attack on PIJ terrorist Tayseer Jabari in Gaza. He was killed in this attack. Also, this time, Israeli security agencies took action in the West Bank and arrested some people. For the security of our border, the Israeli army also launched attacks in the third country.’ At the same time, Lieutenant General Kochavi made an interesting suggestion that the Israeli army should be ready for the security of our country in all directions.

Neither the defence chief nor the Israeli army disclosed the details of which the third country was targeted in the attack. But after this information was received from the Chief of Defence Forces, Israeli and Gulf media started making different claims. Over the past eight years, the Israeli military has launched hundreds of strikes against Iran and Hezbollah-affiliated positions in Syria. But in all these years, Israel had only once acknowledged this action in front of the media. Otherwise, Israel has refrained from commenting on the action in Syria, no matter how many allegations are levelled by Syria and Iran.

Israeli media pointed out that reports of suspicious attacks in Yemen were published in Arab news agencies two weeks ago. On August 7th, a large explosion occurred at a weapons warehouse and factory near Sana, the capital of Yemen. These news agencies had said that the blast killed Iranian officials and Hezbollah terrorists at this place, along with Houthi rebels. Therefore, the Israeli media has expressed the possibility that the third country claimed by the Chief of Defence Forces of Israel could be Yemen.

Meanwhile, last year alone, the Houthi rebels upheld the Iranian side and threatened to launch missile and drone attacks on Israel. The Israeli army then had to deploy an air defence system in the southern city of Eliot. Against this background, the possibility of the Israeli army taking this action against the Iran-affiliated terrorist organization in Yemen cannot be ruled out.