Iran will escalate attacks on Israel during Gaza City op: analyst

An ex-IDF officer warned Iran will intensify attacks on Israel and diaspora Jews, adding that Jewish sites abroad could be targeted.

By World Israel News Staff

A former senior Israeli military official warned that Iran will escalate its aggression against Israel as the IDF continues its operation to conquer Gaza City and achieve a decisive victory over Hamas.

Lieutenant Colonel (res.) Yaron Buskila, head of the Israel Defense and Security Forum, told the Hebrew-language outlet Ma’ariv that Iran would intensify efforts to harm both Israel and diaspora Jews, while framing such attacks as resistance to Israel’s military actions in Gaza.

Buskila said Iran would likely target sites inside Israel as well as Jewish centers abroad, driven by an Islamist ideology that views war against the Jewish state as a religious obligation.

“Ideologically, [Iran] has no intention of remaining on the sidelines — this event is central to their very existence,” Buskila said. “That’s why they are likely to target us abroad, focus on Jewish sites, and, of course, continue using Yemen and the Houthis to act against Israel.”

He also questioned the long-term effectiveness of June’s Operation Rising Lion, in which Israel bombed several nuclear development facilities in Iran.

Iran’s Yemen-based proxy, the Houthi terror group, appears to be undeterred by recent Israeli strikes that eliminated nearly all of its senior leaders.

On Sunday, an explosive drone launched by the Houthis struck Ramon Airport in the Negev Desert, wounding one person and causing damage.

“We may have significantly damaged their nuclear program, but we did not sufficiently damage the Iranians’ ability to launch ballistic missiles — and certainly not their ability to operate their proxies in Yemen and Iraq,” Buskila told Ma’ariv.

“As long as missiles are still being launched, like the one carrying cluster munitions from Yemen, which was certainly directed with Iranian knowledge, then the story with Iran is far from over.”

Buskila stressed that Israel must “go back and attack” Iran again, this time with a focus on crippling the Islamic Republic’s missile program.