Gaza War Risks Spike After Iran Blasts, Arouri Killing

(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Fears that Israel's war in Gaza could spiral across the Middle East mounted Wednesday after twin explosions ripped through an Iranian crowd, claiming at least 103 lives following a strike in Lebanon that killed Hamas's deputy leader.
More than 200 other people were wounded when the blasts about 15 minutes apart struck mourners commemorating slain Revolutionary Guards General Qasem Soleimani on the fourth anniversary of his killing in a United States drone strike, Iran's state media reported.
State-run TV labelled them a "terrorist attack", and they came with regional tensions already soaring a day after a Beirut strike, widely blamed on Israel, killed Hamas number two Saleh al-Arouri.
Israel has been at war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip for almost three months.
Following Tuesday's unclaimed Beirut attack, Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said the military was "highly prepared for any scenario".
Israel and Iran have long been bitter enemies. Violence involving Iran-backed groups in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen has spiked during the Gaza war.
There have been repeated, deadly exchanges of fire across the Lebanon-Israel border, attacks on shipping in the Red Sea area vital for global trade, and strikes against US-led coalition forces in Iraq and Syria.
The United States said it remains incredibly concerned about the risk of the conflict in Gaza spreading to other fronts after the killing of Arouri in Beirut.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said he could not offer an assessment on who carried it out, but called Saleh al-Arouri "a brutal terrorist with civilian blood on his hands."
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, launching a relentless bombardment and ground invasion that has reduced swathes of Gaza to rubble and claimed at least 22,313 lives, according to the territory's health ministry.
The United Nations estimates 1.9mn Gazans are displaced, and the World Health Organisation has warned of the risk of famine and disease, with only a minimal amount of aid entering.
After Tuesday's killing of Arouri, Lebanon's Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah vowed retaliation against its foe Israel, which it blamed for the strike in its stronghold of southern Beirut.
The head of Hezbollah said it "cannot be silent" after the killing of Hamas' deputy leader in Beirut and warned that his heavily armed forces would fight to the finish if Israel chose to extend war from Gaza to Lebanon.
Although Israel did not claim the assassination, Hamas and Lebanese security sources accused it of killing Arouri, 57, a founder of the Hamas military wing.
Hezbollah vowed the killing of Arouri and six other Hamas operatives would not go unpunished, labelling it "a serious assault on Lebanon... and a dangerous development".
During the Israel-Hamas war, Israel has traded almost daily cross-border fire with Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas.
In Israel's northern coastal city of Nahariya, near the border with Lebanon, many people are carrying weapons. Residents said they fear Aruri's killing could spark war in their region.
"We're scared," said Lee Zorviv, a clothing store owner.

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