Israeli Consul General of Houston, University of Houston Professor break down Iranian attack
HOUSTON - The missile and drone attacks in Israel are sparking responses across the world and in Houston. Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles towards Israel in a military assault against the country late Saturday night.
"For the first time in history, in the past 45–46 years, a direct attack from Iran to Israel," said Professor Erman El-Badawi, the chair of the Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Director of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Houston. "This is part of a much larger conflict that began after October 7 with the Hamas attack against Israel and the ongoing, what's described as a war or genocide in Gaza and Iran's support for Gaza, and of course Israel's attack of the Iranian consulate."
According to President Joe Biden, 99% of the drones and missiles were intercepted with the help of the United States.
"Still some of them landed in our territory causing marginal damage," said Livia Linkraviv, the Israeli Consul General in Houston. "This is huge. This is a very serious attack."
University of Houston Professor Erman El-Badawi said the attack comes as retaliation for the April 1 strike on Iran’s consulate. Israel has not taken responsibility for the strike.
"They come as little more than an airshow to show that, you know, ‘this is our deterrence capacity. You do this again and there will be consequences," said Professor El-Badawi. "Iran is a country that plays the long game. It buys its time. It's very patient. The United States and Israel have been bombing countries in the region for decades and Iran has very cautiously and methodically responded to different threats and violence against its interests. But this is an instance where they had to apply more directly, which makes it unprecedented."
Before the recent drone attack, the Consul General in Houston said Iran has targeted Israel through proxy forces, like Hamas and Hezbollah.
"These are both Iranian proxies that were trained, guided, financed by Iran, and now Iran shows its true colors by being a terrorist state," said Linkraviv.
The attack is fueling fears about the possibility of a larger war.
"President Biden has made it clear that the United States will not aid Israel in any sort of attack against Iranian soil," said El-Badawi.
In a statement, the White House is maintaining its commitment to Israel is ‘ironclad.' President Biden said he's working on a diplomatic response with other G7 leaders.
"There is no solution other than peace and a diplomatic solution to what's going on in Palestine and Israel today. You have about 7-million Arabs, 7-million Jews, nobody is going anywhere," said El-Badawi. "The only solution is to sit down and talk and argue and debate. Violence can only breed violence and our current leadership in Washington, in Israel, in Palestine, there is a lack of leadership that's taking us down the path of war. So give peace a chance."