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Iran Says Revolutionary Guards Attack Israel's 'Spy HQ' in Iraq, Vows More Revenge

This image taken from video provided by Rudaw TV shows smoke rising from a building hit by a strike in Irbil, Iraq, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. (Rudaw TV via AP)
This image taken from video provided by Rudaw TV shows smoke rising from a building hit by a strike in Irbil, Iraq, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. (Rudaw TV via AP)
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Iran Says Revolutionary Guards Attack Israel's 'Spy HQ' in Iraq, Vows More Revenge

This image taken from video provided by Rudaw TV shows smoke rising from a building hit by a strike in Irbil, Iraq, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. (Rudaw TV via AP)
This image taken from video provided by Rudaw TV shows smoke rising from a building hit by a strike in Irbil, Iraq, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. (Rudaw TV via AP)

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they attacked the "spy headquarters" of Israel in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, state media reported late on Monday, while the elite force said they also struck in Syria against the ISIS group.
The strikes come amid concerns about the escalation of a conflict that has spread through the Middle East since the war between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas began on Oct. 7, with Iran's allies also entering the fray from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
"In response to the recent atrocities of the Zionist regime, causing the killing of commanders of the Guards and the Axis of Resistance ... one of the main Mossad espionage headquarters in Iraq's Kurdistan region was destroyed with ballistic missiles," the Guards said in a statement.
Reuters could not independently verify the report. Israeli government officials were not reachable for immediate comment.
Iran had vowed revenge for the killing of three members of the Guards in Syria last month, including a senior Guards commander, who had served as military advisers there.
Since the Oct. 7 rampage by Hamas fighters into Israeli territory and the ensuing Israeli bombing campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon, more than 130 fighters of Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah have been killed in hostilities.
"We assure our nation that the Guards' offensive operations will continue until avenging the last drops of martyrs' blood," the Guards' statement said.
In addition to the strikes northeast of Kurdistan's capital Erbil in a residential area near the US consulate, the Guards said they "fired a number of ballistic missiles in Syria and destroyed the perpetrators of terrorist operations" in Iran, including ISIS.
Reuters could not independently verify the report.
US CONDEMNS ERBIL ATTACK AS 'RECKLESS'
The US State Department condemned the attacks near Erbil, calling them "reckless," but officials said no US facilities were targeted and there were no US casualties.
"We tracked the missiles, which impacted Northern Iraq and Northern Syria. No US personnel or facilities were targeted," Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, said in a statement.
"We will continue to assess the situation, but initial indications are that this was a reckless and imprecise set of strikes," she said, adding: "The United States supports the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Iraq."
Earlier this month, ISIS claimed responsibility for two explosions in Iran's southeastern Kerman city that killed nearly 100 people and wounded scores at a memorial for top commander Qassem Soleimani.
Iran, which supports Hamas in its war with Israel, accuses the United States of backing what it calls Israeli crimes in Gaza. The US has said it backs Israel in its campaign but has raised concerns about the number of Palestinian civilians killed.
'CRIME AGAINST KURDISH PEOPLE'
In a statement from his office, Iraqi Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani condemned the attack on Erbil as a "crime against the Kurdish people."
At least four civilians were killed and six injured in the strikes on Erbil, the Kurdistan government's security council said in a statement, describing the attack as a "crime."
Multimillionaire Kurdish businessman Peshraw Dizayee and several members of his family were among the dead, when at least one rocket crashed into their home, Iraqi security and medical sources said.
Dizayee, who was close to the ruling Barzani clan, owned businesses that led major real estate projects in Kurdistan.
Additionally, one rocket had fallen on the house of a senior Kurdish intelligence official and another on a Kurdish intelligence center and air traffic at Erbil airport was halted, the security sources said.
Iran has in the past carried out strikes in Iraq's northern Kurdistan region, saying the area is used as a staging ground for Iranian separatist groups as well as agents of its arch-foe Israel.
Baghdad has tried to address Iranian concerns over separatist groups in the mountainous border region, moving to relocate some members as part of a security agreement reached with Tehran in 2023.

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Arab World

UNIFIL Warns Israel, Hezbollah Attacks near Its Positions Risk Return Fire

A soldier of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)
A soldier of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)
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UNIFIL Warns Israel, Hezbollah Attacks near Its Positions Risk Return Fire

A soldier of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)
A soldier of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said attacks by Israel and Hezbollah near its positions "could potentially draw return fire".

In a statement, UNIFIL said it was "extremely concerned" about attacks from both sides "carried out from near our positions, which could potentially draw return fire".

It urged them to "put down their weapons and work seriously toward a ceasefire".

Three Indonesian peacekeepers were killed in two separate explosions in southern Lebanon last week. They were laid to rest in their hometowns on Sunday, said AFP.

Peacekeeper Farizal Rhomadhon, 28, died when a projectile exploded on March 29 in southern Lebanon, where Israel and Hezbollah have been fighting since Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war.

Two other blue helmets, Zulmi Aditya Iskandar, 33, and Muhammad Nur Ichwan, 26, died a day later when an explosion struck a logistics convoy of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), also in southern Lebanon.

The deadly incidents sparked calls from Indonesian authorities for an investigation and security guarantees for peacekeeping forces.

The soldiers were buried on Sunday in coffins draped in the Indonesian flag during military funerals with gun salutes.

Less than a week after the explosions that killed the three peacekeepers, another blast took place at a UN facility near Adaisseh on Friday, injuring three more Indonesian blue helmets.

Arab World

After Gaza Devastation, Israeli Attacks on Lebanon's Health Care System Feel Familiar for Many

Smoke rises from Beirut's southern suburbs following an Israeli strike, amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, as the US-Israel conflict with Iran continues, Lebanon, April 5, 2026. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis
Smoke rises from Beirut's southern suburbs following an Israeli strike, amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, as the US-Israel conflict with Iran continues, Lebanon, April 5, 2026. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis
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After Gaza Devastation, Israeli Attacks on Lebanon's Health Care System Feel Familiar for Many

Smoke rises from Beirut's southern suburbs following an Israeli strike, amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, as the US-Israel conflict with Iran continues, Lebanon, April 5, 2026. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis
Smoke rises from Beirut's southern suburbs following an Israeli strike, amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, as the US-Israel conflict with Iran continues, Lebanon, April 5, 2026. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

Two years ago, Dr. Mohammed Ziara watched Israel ravage Gaza's health care system, shelling hospitals, striking ambulances and forcing patients to evacuate.

Now Ziara — along with other medical workers, human rights groups and many civilians — warns that the same scenario is unfolding in Lebanon.

Israel is pushing deep into the southern part of the country in its campaign against the Iran-backed group Hezbollah, a powerful militant force and political party that long has exercised de facto control over much of Lebanon’s Shiite community.

To describe its strategy in this war, the Israeli military invokes the devastation it wrought in Gaza after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. Israeli warplanes dropped leaflets over Beirut last month warning that after “great success in Gaza, a new reality is coming to Lebanon, too.”

“I've lived this before,” Ziara, a burn surgeon from Gaza City, told The Associated Press on Thursday at the government hospital in the Lebanese port city of Sidon. “I cannot go back to Gaza now,” Ziara said. “But I can be here, in Lebanon.”

As it did with Hamas in Gaza, Israel accuses Hezbollah of hiding in and operating from civilian areas, and using hospitals and ambulances for military purposes. Israel has increasingly targeted first responders and medical centers, forcing several hospitals to evacuate.

“I was besieged in a hospital,” Ziara said of his work in Gaza. “I lost my brother in an airstrike. I feel what these people feel.”

An Israeli offensive threatens a health system, again Since the war between Israel and Hezbollah reignited on March 2, Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 54 health professionals as of Sunday, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

Israel has carried out 152 attacks against emergency medical workers and ambulances, and forced the closure of six hospitals and 49 health clinics through attacks or threats, the ministry says.

In Sidon, Ziara and his team from UK-based nonprofit Interburns have set up the Lebanese public health system's first specialized burn unit — a critical resource in this crisis-stricken country where the war between Israel and Hezbollah has already killed 1,461 people and wounded 4,430, according to the ministry. Israel claims to have killed hundreds of Hezbollah operatives in the latest bombardment and ground invasion.

The Israeli military argues that Hezbollah’s use of medical facilities makes them legitimate military targets under international law. It does not offer evidence to support its claims.

Hezbollah denies conducting militant activities within civilian sites. Although the group's presence in residential areas is well-documented, there has been no independent verification of its use of hospitals for military purposes.

Interburns, which trains local medics in burn care around the world, began building up the unit at Sidon Government Hospital during the 2024 Israel-Hezbollah war. Lebanese authorities asked the team to return when the war reignited last month.

As the first city just north of Israel’s evacuation zone that covers nearly all southern Lebanon, Sidon takes more wounded people every day.

The rising toll of rescue work Kamal Fakih, 27, hates when people ask him what happened on March 17.

It’s not that it pains him to recall the Israeli airstrike. It’s that he doesn’t remember anything at all. He regained consciousness a day later at the hospital in Sidon, his body burned and lacerated by shrapnel.

Once stabilized, Fakih tried to connect with the paramedic who pulled him and his friend Hassan from the burning rubble, hoping to hear his account and thank him for saving their lives. But by the time Fakih got his contact, Muhammad Tafili was already dead, killed with a fellow paramedic in an Israeli airstrike on ambulances in the southeastern village of Kfar Tebnit on March 28, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.

That same day, Israeli attacks killed seven other medics across four additional villages, the World Health Organization said. Among the dead was a medic targeted while responding to an Israeli airstrike that killed three journalists working for pro-Hezbollah TV channels. Footage of the incident shows two strikes in quick succession — the first hitting journalists in their car, the second crashing into paramedics as they rushed to the rescue.

Israel's military accused the two medics, and two of the three journalists killed, of being Hezbollah operatives. Its claim alarmed watchdogs that witnessed its similar justifications for killing more than 260 journalists and 1,700 health workers in Gaza, according to the United Nations humanitarian agency.

Although Lebanese medical workers and journalists were killed during the 2024 war with Hezbollah, “this time is different,” said Ramzi Kaiss, the Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch.

He pointed to a startling promise by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz last week that, to protect its border towns from Hezbollah rockets, Israel would flatten all the houses in southern Lebanon “in accordance with the model used in Rafah and Beit Hanoun in Gaza” — two cities that Israel almost entirely razed in its offensive against Hamas in the enclave.

“There’s a new kind of brazenness in declaring an intent to commit unlawful attacks,” Kaiss said. “It appears impunity has emboldened the Israeli military.”

Hospitals in the line of fire Sweeping Israeli evacuation orders in recent weeks have sent over 1 million Lebanese flocking north. As the south came under heavy bombardment, clinics shuttered or suspended operations. Nabih Berri Hospital was swamped by an influx of casualties. To make room, it evacuated dozens of patients.

Such transfers involve coordination with the Lebanese army, health ministry and UN peacekeeping force — a game of telephone, doctors say, that creates potentially life-threatening delays. Admitting patients isn’t easy either; the Sidon burn unit must discharge a patient to free up a bed.

But the referrals keep coming, straining a health system already crippled by economic collapse.

“The health system is on its knees,” Ziara said, as the hospital was plunged into darkness until backup generators kicked in 10 minutes later, a result of Lebanon’s long-running electricity crisis. “Now front-line hospitals are lacking staff and supplies. They're overwhelmed.”

Civilians search for answers Lebanese civilians say that Israeli bombs can come without warning and hit indiscriminately, leading to a growing feeling that Palestinians in Gaza know well — that nowhere is safe.

Mohammad Qubaisi, 53, said his neighborhood of Zuqaq al-Blat in central Beirut had not received Israeli evacuation guidance before March 18, when Israeli munitions slammed into his seventh-floor apartment.

Carrying his wife from the smoldering ruins, he shouted for his sons. His eldest, Adam, called to him. But he couldn’t hear Jad.

Qubaisi ran back into the skin-searing steam to search for his 15-year-old. When he woke up at the hospital hours later, his face raw with second-degree burns, he knew his son was gone.

The Israeli military said it was targeting Hezbollah. Qubaisi pushed back.

“These are civilian buildings, not military targets. They hit us and we still don’t know why,” he said from the Sidon hospital. “We were sleeping safely in our home, and look what happened to us.”

Arab World

Hamas Armed Wing Says Disarmament Calls Are Unacceptable

25 March 2026, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Smoke and flames rise after an Israeli military strike on a target in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. (dpa)
25 March 2026, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Smoke and flames rise after an Israeli military strike on a target in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. (dpa)
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Hamas Armed Wing Says Disarmament Calls Are Unacceptable

25 March 2026, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Smoke and flames rise after an Israeli military strike on a target in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. (dpa)
25 March 2026, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Smoke and flames rise after an Israeli military strike on a target in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. (dpa)

Hamas' armed wing said on Sunday discussing the group's disarmament before Israel fully implements the first phase of the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire was an attempt to continue what it called a genocide against the Palestinian people. 

In a televised statement, Hamas' armed wing spokesperson Abu Ubaida said raising the issue of weapons “in a crude manner” would not be accepted. 

The issue of Hamas relinquishing its weapons is a major obstacle in talks to implement US ‌President Donald Trump’s proposed "Board ‌of Peace" plan for Gaza, ‌aimed ⁠at cementing a ceasefire ⁠that halted two years of full-scale fighting last October. 

Hamas has told mediators it will not discuss disarmament without guarantees that Israel will completely quit Gaza, three sources told Reuters last week. 

"What the enemy is trying to push through today against the Palestinian resistance, via our ⁠brotherly mediators, is extremely dangerous," he said. 

He said ‌the disarmament demands were "nothing ‌but an overt attempt to continue the genocide against our ‌people, something we will not accept under any circumstances." 

It ‌was not immediately clear whether the comments amounted to a formal rejection of the US-backed disarmament plan, and Hamas political officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

The Hamas-Israel ‌war in Gaza erupted after Hamas-led fighters carried out cross-border attacks on southern Israel, prompting ⁠a devastating ⁠Israeli offensive that displaced much of Gaza's population and left the enclave largely in ruins. 

Since the ceasefire took effect, Hamas and Israel have repeatedly accused each other of violating its terms. 

Abu Ubaida urged mediators to pressure Israel to fulfil its commitments under the first phase of the Trump plan before any discussion of the second phase can take place. 

"The enemy is the one who undermines the agreement," he said. 

There was no immediate comment from Israel on his remarks.