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CENTCOM Chief in Mideast to Mobilize Against Iranian Attack
Illustrative: File photo: A F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, Red Sea, February 13, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
JNS.org – Gen. Erik Kurilla, commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), arrived in the Middle East on Saturday amid sky-high tensions as Israel prepares for an imminent attack by Iran and its terrorist proxies.
The trip by the general in charge of American forces in the region was already planned. However, in light of Tehran’s pledge to retaliate for the targeted killing of Hamas terrorist leader Ismail Haniyeh on its soil on July 31, his visit will focus on building a multilateral defensive alliance similar to the one that fended off the vast majority of the more than 300 missiles and explosive drones Iran fired at the Jewish state in mid-April.
Hezbollah, Iran’s Lebanese terror proxy, has separately vowed revenge for the targeted killing of senior member Fuad Shukr in Beirut on July 30.
Israel took responsibility for the Shukr killing, which occurred after Hezbollah murdered 12 children on a soccer field in the Druze Golan town of Majdal Shams on July 27. Jerusalem has not commented on the Haniyeh hit.
Kurilla is expected to visit several Gulf states, Jordan and Israel. Amman is an important stop because King Abdullah II played a pivotal role during the April 13 onslaught.
Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi will visit Tehran on Sunday to discuss the security escalation in the Middle East following the Haniyeh assassination, the Qatari newspaper Al-Arabi Al-Jadid reported.
US increases defense posture in the region
Meanwhile, the Pentagon said on Friday that the US is boosting its defense posture in the Middle East in preparation for an expected attack against Israel by Iran and its terror proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin “has ordered adjustments to US military posture designed to improve US force protection, to increase support for the defense of Israel, and to ensure the United States is prepared to respond to various contingencies,” the Pentagon statement from deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said.
Austin ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group. In addition, destroyers and cruisers capable of ballistic missile defense will be sent to the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East.
“The secretary has also ordered the deployment of an additional fighter squadron to the Middle East, reinforcing our defensive air support capability,” said Singh.
CENTCOM forces destroy Houthi missile and launcher
CENTCOM reported on Saturday that its forces had destroyed a missile and launcher of Iran’s Yemen proxy the Houthis in an area of Yemen controlled by the terrorist group.
“It was determined these weapons presented an imminent threat to US and coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region. These actions were taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure,” CENTCOM said.
Iran planning larger attack
The Houthis could join the Iranian attack along with Tehran’s other regional terror proxies, with US officials expecting an attack “potentially larger in scope” than in April.
Three US and Israeli officials who talked to Axios reporter Barak Ravid said they expect Iran to attack Israel as early as Monday.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ordered a direct attack on Israel following the killing of Haniyeh in Tehran, The New York Times reported on July 31.
Iranian officials said that the drones and missiles would aim for “military targets in the vicinity of Tel Aviv and Haifa, but would make a point of avoiding strikes on civilian targets,” the Times reported.
However, Tehran said on Saturday that it expects Hezbollah to expand its scope beyond just military targets.
“We expect … Hezbollah to choose more targets and [strike] deeper in its response,” Iran’s mission to the United Nations said, as quoted by the official IRNA news agency.
“Secondly, that it will not limit its response to military targets.”
Report: Mossad hired Iranian agents to kill Haniyeh
Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency hired Iranian agents to plant explosive devices in the room where Haniyeh was staying in Tehran for the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian, according to Iranian sources who spoke to British newspaper The Daily Telegraph.
According to the report, the original plan was to kill Haniyeh in May when he visited Tehran for the funerals of Iran’s President Ibraham Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, who died in a helicopter crash on May 19. However, that plan was postponed after a large crowd gathered in the building where Haniyeh was staying.
Instead, the Mossad hired two Iranian agents who planted explosives in three rooms where Haniyeh was expected to stay at an IRGC guesthouse in the north of the capital, according to the report.
The agents, who were captured on CCTV entering and leaving the room, immediately fled the country, but left behind a source in Iran, according to the Telegraph. The regime in Tehran arrested dozens of suspects in connection with Haniyeh’s death, the Times reported on Saturday, including senior intelligence officers, military officials, and staff workers at the guesthouse.
“They are now certain that Mossad hired agents from the Ansar al-Mahdi protection unit,” an IRGC official told the Telegraph from Tehran, referring to the IRGC unit responsible for protecting high-ranking officials.
A second IRGC official told the Telegraph that “this is a humiliation for Iran and a huge security breach.”
“It’s still a question for everyone how it happened, I can’t make sense of it. There must be something higher up in the hierarchy that no one knows about,” the second official said.
“There is now an internal blame game taking over the IRGC, with different sectors accusing each other of the failure,” the first official said, adding that Quds Force commander Esmail Ghaani has been summoning people for questioning, arrests and possible execution.
“The breach has humiliated everyone,” said the IRGC official. “The supreme leader has summoned all the commanders several times over the past two days, he wants answers. For him, addressing the security breach is now more important than seeking revenge,” he added.
The post CENTCOM Chief in Mideast to Mobilize Against Iranian Attack first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.