Tehran, Tel Aviv Exchange Displays of Power During Gaza Conflict

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei stands before the coffins of seven Revolutionary Guard officers killed in the Iranian consulate strike in Syria. (EPA)
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei stands before the coffins of seven Revolutionary Guard officers killed in the Iranian consulate strike in Syria. (EPA)
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Tehran, Tel Aviv Exchange Displays of Power During Gaza Conflict

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei stands before the coffins of seven Revolutionary Guard officers killed in the Iranian consulate strike in Syria. (EPA)
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei stands before the coffins of seven Revolutionary Guard officers killed in the Iranian consulate strike in Syria. (EPA)

Since the start of the Gaza conflict following Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, Iran has been visibly involved in the regional crisis. This involvement spans its support for allied militant groups in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, as well as political, diplomatic and military actions under President Ebrahim Raisi.

Two hundred days into the war on Gaza, tensions between Tel Aviv and Tehran have intensified. This escalation signals a shift from years of a shadow Iranian-Israeli conflict towards a potentially direct confrontation, primarily driven by Iran.

In the early days of the war, Iranian officials hinted at their ability to escalate the conflict and confront Israel by unifying fronts if Gaza continued to be targeted. This was seen as a political maneuver.

While Iran implied involvement in the confrontation, Western reports, especially American ones, differed on Iran’s role in Hamas’ Oct. 7 Al-Aqsa Flood Operation that sparked the war.

In the blame game and attempts to involve international parties, based on Israeli sources, some Western newspapers accused Iran of orchestrating the attack. On the other hand, media outlets and agencies turned to Iranian sources to challenge the Israeli narrative.

As Iran tried to leverage Israel’s surprise over the Al-Aqsa Flood, Iranian Revolutionary Guard leaders sent a strong message. They mentioned Iran’s motives for the attack, including revenge for Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani’s killing in a US strike in early 2020. Yet, Iran swiftly denied any direct link to Hamas’ attack to avoid upsetting the delicate balances it has achieved in the region.

Diplomatic moves

Iran has been quick to amp up its regional diplomacy under Raisi, aiming to improve ties with neighboring countries and counter its international isolation, especially after the Ukraine conflict complicated efforts to revive its nuclear deal with Western powers.

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian’s recent statement at Tehran University, suggesting that Iran must be consulted for any Palestine agreement, has meanwhile raised eyebrows.

Abdollahian’s visits to Jeddah, Geneva, and New York for Palestine-related conferences have sparked questions in Iranian media about the authorities’ delayed actions on pressing domestic issues, including nuclear negotiations to lift US sanctions.

However, the aftermath of the war has somewhat eased Western pressure on Iran’s nuclear program, with Western powers avoiding turning to the UN Security Council or issuing condemnations of Iran because they don’t want to deepen the crisis with Tehran amid the Gaza conflict.

Iran has highlighted its ties to powers around Israel while pursuing diplomacy. It continues to support Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, with top Iranian officials, like the foreign minister, visiting Doha, Beirut, and Damascus to coordinate with the two groups.

Iran also backs armed groups linked to Tehran, such as Lebanese Hezbollah, the Houthi militias in Yemen and Iraqi armed factions.

The Iranians see the Gaza war as the greatest evidence of coordination between diplomacy and field activities by the Revolutionary Guard and allied groups. However, Tehran officially denies direct involvement in decisions or operations of these groups, though it still supports their actions.

Maritime developments

In early November, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called for disrupting Israel’s key supply routes by blocking maritime access for energy, food and trade.

Following his statement, the Houthi militias in Yemen began attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea.

These attacks sparked renewed tensions at sea. The US and UK responded with strikes on Houthi positions to deter further assaults. Meanwhile, Western and regional powers formed maritime alliances to safeguard navigation routes.

The Revolutionary Guard further heightened tensions by announcing Iranian naval escorts to the Red Sea and threatening to block key waterways like the Bab el-Mandeb and the Strait of Gibraltar, as well as disrupting navigation in the Mediterranean.

They also formed a “Naval Basij” unit comprising maritime units of groups loyal to Iran.

Israel strikes back

As tensions rose in the Red Sea and Iran-aligned factions targeted US forces, Israel launched two precise airstrikes in December. The first, in Damascus on December 2 killed two Revolutionary Guard officers: Brigadier Generals Panah Taghizadeh and Mohammad-Ali Ataie Shourcheh.

They were reportedly killed during “advisory operations” at a military base in the Sayyida Zainab area.

On December 25, Razi Mousavi, the logistics chief for the Revolutionary Guard in Syria and Lebanon, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on his home in the Sayyida Zainab area. The strike came shortly after he left his office at the Iranian embassy compound.

The third strike occurred in the Mazzeh area on January 20, killing Brig. Gen. Hojjatollah Amidwar, the Revolutionary Guard’s intelligence chief in Syria, and four other Iranian officers.

Later, the Revolutionary Guard reported the deaths of three more officers in separate operations in Damascus, Homs and Deir Ezzor between February and March.

Losses and heightened tensions

As tensions rose, Damascus saw the deadliest blow to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard in the ongoing power struggle between Tehran and Tel Aviv.

The Iranian consulate in Mazzeh was struck, killing Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, commander of the Revolutionary Guard forces in Syria and Lebanon, along with Hezbollah’s advisory council member and five other senior Guard officers.

Iran promised retaliation, sparking intense speculation, and Khamenei declared the consulate Iranian soil and pledged a response.

Israel remained quiet after all the attacks, while Iran launched over 300 missiles and drones two weeks later. Israel claimed to have intercepted most.

Khamenei stated Iran aimed to show its power.

In response, Israel threatened retaliation deep in Iranian territory. Western powers tried to discourage Israel, but it struck a military airport near Isfahan. Satellite images showed damage to the S-300 radar system protecting nuclear facilities.

The exchange continues, with its lessons likely to keep tensions high between Israel and Iran, even after the dust settles in the Gaza conflict.



Education at Risk in West Bank from Israeli Operation, Funding Cuts

 A Palestinian child stands on a street destroyed by Israeli military vehicles during raid, in Jenin camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, March 20, 2025. (Reuters)
A Palestinian child stands on a street destroyed by Israeli military vehicles during raid, in Jenin camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, March 20, 2025. (Reuters)
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Education at Risk in West Bank from Israeli Operation, Funding Cuts

 A Palestinian child stands on a street destroyed by Israeli military vehicles during raid, in Jenin camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, March 20, 2025. (Reuters)
A Palestinian child stands on a street destroyed by Israeli military vehicles during raid, in Jenin camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, March 20, 2025. (Reuters)

Every day, children in the West Bank run the gauntlet of Israeli roadblocks, checkpoints and settler attacks on their way to school.

Since Israel launched a major operation in the West Bank in January, the trip has become even more perilous. Thousands of troops are sweeping through refugee camps and cities and demolishing houses and infrastructure, including roads children use to get to school.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled their homes since January in what the United Nations says is the largest displacement in the West Bank since the 1967 war when Israel seized the area, along with Gaza and parts of Jerusalem.

The impact on children's education is reminiscent of the havoc caused in the Gaza Strip during the war that followed a Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, when gunmen killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages.

Children in Gaza had just begun to return to classes among bombed-out buildings when Israeli airstrikes resumed on March 18, shattering a weeks-long ceasefire.

Nearly half of the more than 400 people killed were children that day, one of the deadliest in the conflict, according to Palestinian officials cited by the UN.

Palestinian health authorities have said Israel's ground and air campaign in Gaza killed more than 46,600 people, with just over half of identified victims being women, children or older people.

"The ability for Palestinian children to access quality education in the West Bank or in Gaza has never been under more stress," said Alexandra Saieh, global head of humanitarian policy and advocacy at Save the Children.

ATTACKS ON SCHOOLS

Violence had been on the rise in the West Bank since the war in Gaza. Last year, 85 students were killed and 525 injured in Israeli military operations there, according to a report by the Occupied Palestinian Territory Education Cluster, which includes UN agencies.

Israel says the new operation, which has so far killed more than 30 Palestinians in the West Bank, is aimed at hitting Iranian-backed armed groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, that have established strongholds in the crowded townships that house descendants of Palestinians who fled from their homes in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

Constant fighting has paralyzed movement, and more than 806,000 students found their access to education restricted in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 2024, the Education Cluster report said.

That year, the Palestinian ministry of education recorded more than 2,200 incidents of violence targeting the education system in the West Bank, according to the report.

These included attacks by armed settlers on schools and the detention of students or teachers. At least 109 schools were attacked or vandalized. More than half of Palestinian students reported being delayed or harassed on their way to school, with many saying they had been physically assaulted.

Longer travel times also mean increased costs for already stressed and poorly paid teachers.

"Checkpoints are also increasing risks of violence for students, their caregivers and teachers from Israeli forces or from settlers who, in some areas, have taken advantage of the fact that cars are not able to move to damage them and attack passengers," the report said.

NO MONEY, MORE PROBLEMS

With their incomes plummeting because of the conflict, families have reduced their spending on education, meaning children could be forced to drop out, aid agencies say.

To make matters worse, the UN Palestinian relief agency UNRWA, which runs 96 schools in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, could be forced to stop its work following an Israeli ban on its operations on Israeli territory.

And funding cuts from major donors, including the United States where President Donald Trump has terminated thousands of foreign aid projects, could further cripple services.

"It's not just the US cuts. We're looking at a broader reduction in funding to humanitarian assistance globally, and that's what's alarming," Saieh said, noting that this could have an effect on Palestinians' traditionally high literacy rates.

"Palestinians are known for this ... around the world, and so this is particularly disheartening to see," Saieh said.

The United States and more than a dozen other countries stopped funding the UNRWA in January 2024 after Israel accused 12 of its 13,000 employees of taking part in the Hamas-led attack on Israel.

In December, Sweden also cut its support, a decision the agency said came at the worst time for Palestinian refugees.

"We are living with an accumulated deficit, and that is affecting the quality of our education," Muawia Amar, chief of UNRWA's field educational program in the West Bank, said in an interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The law banning UNRWA operations on Israeli land came into effect in January, but has not yet been fully implemented.

"At any moment, UNRWA could be prevented from working," Amar said. "I am talking about 47,000 students in UNRWA schools (in the West Bank), and this is a big problem."