Gaza Operation Will Lead to 'Crisis' Inside Israel, Iran Claims

Iran's mission to the United Nations has said that Israel's looming Gaza Strip crackdown on Hamas will prompt a political crisis within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, as Israel Defense Forces troops mass around the edges of the besieged Palestinian enclave.

"Once the flames of war simmer down, it is foreseeable that this will morph into a crisis within the regime," the mission told Newsweek of the Israeli government in an exclusive statement. Newsweek has contacted the Israeli Foreign Ministry by email to request comment.

Hamas initially claimed that Tehran had directly supported the devastating surprise attack into southern Israel last weekend. The operation has killed more than 1,200 people in Israel and represents the worst ever militant attack on the country since its founding in 1948.

The attack has been followed by an unprecedented Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected ground invasion. So far, more than 1,200 Palestinians have been killed there.

Hamas later clarified that neither Iran nor its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah were directly involved in what it called operation "Al-Aqsa Flood." Hamas justified its attack as a response to recent Israeli security operations in the occupied Palestinian West Bank and the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, plus continued expansion of Israeli settlements considered illegal under international law.

Netanyahu—who now leads an emergency wartime coalition government dedicated to "eradicating" Hamas through a military intervention in Gaza—is under pressure amid reports that he had advance warning of the Hamas attack. The prime minister has also been accused of eroding Israeli societal unity in the run-up to the Hamas infiltration, through his legal battles and his divisive judicial reform agenda.

Tehran has denied prior knowledge of the assault, and Israeli and U.S. officials have said there is no evidence to link Iran to the infiltration and rocket attacks that have shaken Israel. Still, the destabilization of Israel and humiliation of the country's fearsome military and intelligence apparatus align with Iranian strategic goals.

One such ambition is to torpedo the planned normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia, which would have been a major step forward for the "Abraham Accords," a U.S.-sponsored diplomatic project that began during former President Donald Trump's tenure.

Bringing Riyadh—the guardian of the of the two holy Islamic shrines in Mecca and Medina and considered the most powerful Arab state—into the fold would be a historic win for the White House and its Israeli allies.

But the resurgence of fighting in Gaza may yet scupper the project. The Saudi Foreign Ministry's statement soon after Hamas' attack did not explicitly condemn the militant group, and instead suggested that Israel's "occupation, the deprivation of the Palestinian people of their legitimate rights, and the repetition of systematic provocations" was to blame.

"We harbor reasonable doubt over the Israeli regime's success in establishing normalized relations with Saudi Arabia," the Iranian mission said.

"From our perspective, Saudi Arabia aims to advocate for creating a Palestinian state encompassing the 1967 borders, primarily driven by the requirements set forth by the United States and the Israeli regime. We remain skeptical of the regime's willingness to agree to this proposition.

"Nonetheless, should Saudi Arabia manage to achieve this objective, we would view it as a crucial and initial stride towards upholding the rights of Palestine, and we would not oppose it."