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Iran Was Sent a Message with Assassination of IRGC Senior Leader
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei meets with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Iran, June 21, 2023. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA via Reuters
JNS.org – The importance of killing Gen. Sayyed Razi Mousavi on Dec. 25—a senior leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps—goes beyond the importance of the man himself. It shows that Israel, which has been blamed for the assassination, has decided to step up its struggle not only against Iran’s proxies in the region but against Iran itself.
Mousavi was more than a mid-level commander in the IRGC. He was involved in smuggling weapons from Iran, manufacturing weapons in Syria, and transferring funds to Hezbollah and the Shi’ite militias operating under Iran’s auspices in Syria.
His rank (equivalent to brigadier general) and role were less about his importance and power than his proximity to IRGC Quds Force power centers, especially the most legendary among them, the former Quds Force chief Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a January 2020 American strike in Baghdad.
Israel has been blamed for taking out various Iranian figures in Syria. Sometimes, these were targeted killings meant to exact a price from Iran for its activity in the region; sometimes they were a byproduct of attacking weapons warehouses or infrastructure that also housed Iranian civilians or operatives.
From reports coming out of Damascus on Dec. 25, this seems to have been a targeted killing whose dual purpose was to both get rid of the man himself and send a deterrent message to Tehran.
Overt ambiguity
Ever since the Oct. 7 attack on the northwestern Negev, Iran has significantly increased its aggression against Israel. It assists Hamas in various ways, mainly financially, but also in frequent meetings with the organization’s external leadership, and it is an active partner in the rocket attacks Hezbollah is carrying out against Israel from Lebanon.
Iran’s proxies have also operated from Syria on several occasions, and parallel groups have arrived from Iraq to reinforce activity on the Syria-Lebanon border. Another active arena is Yemen, where the Houthis rely on Iranian weapons and guidance to act against Israel by firing cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, and by attempting to strike Israeli vessels in the southern Red Sea.
In response, Israel has been careful to remain ambiguous regarding its actions against Iran, so as not to be dragged into a direct confrontation. This has presumably been why there have been airstrikes against several targets related to smuggling and weapons manufacturing in Syria, and an apparent cyberattack last week that shut down most gas stations in Iran.
That attack was attributed to Israel, even though an organization called Predatory Sparrow claimed responsibility.
While Israel has once again avoided taking responsibility for the Mousavi assassination, no one in the region doubts who is responsible for it. This matter also requires re-examination: Until now, Israel has operated within the CBM framework (the Campaign Between Wars) in an attempt to keep hostilities below the threshold of war.
In an era where overt war is being waged in the north and south and where Iran is using many tools at its disposal to challenge Israel, we must examine whether the time has come to remove some of that ambiguity in order to enhance deterrence.
A decision is required
Israel and Iran have been fighting each other in various ways for nearly three decades. Until the events of Oct. 7, Iran bled more than Israel in every possible arena. Hamas’ attack and the regional conflict that developed in its wake changed that picture. Today, it’s Israel that is bleeding, among other things, due to overt encouragement and assistance from Iran, while Iran itself pays a negligible price on its own soil.
It is likely that Monday’s assassination, which Iran attributes to Israel, was meant to send Tehran the message that Israel’s patience is running out. It is not certain that the message was fully received; in fact, the strike may have led Iran to ramp up its activity and also try to exact a price from Israelis and Jews worldwide.
This is a constant Iranian effort taking place across dozens of locations worldwide, which has so far been thwarted thanks to impressive activity by Mossad and various security services.
Therefore, it seems Israel will soon need to have a real discussion: whether to openly strike Iran on its territory. This is a complex decision with costs in every possible aspect—security, political, economic and regional—but it also has real potential to deter Tehran, or at least cause it to deal more with defense and less with offense.
Originally published by Israel Hayom.
The post Iran Was Sent a Message with Assassination of IRGC Senior Leader 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.