Repercussions of the 'Assassination Attempt' Article on Netanyahu's Sons by Mashregh News

Israeli media have focused on a photo and report published by the Iranian news website 'Mashregh News' regarding the 'targeting' of the two sons of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On Sunday, January 25, Mashregh News published a photo of Yair and Avner Netanyahu alongside their parents, depicting them as targets for gunfire. Israeli Channel 10 on the same day and the Haaretz newspaper on Monday, January 26, referred to the Mashregh News report as a potential plot by the Islamic Republic of Iran to assassinate the children of the current Prime Minister and former Israeli leaders. Mashregh News also listed the names of Shaul Olmert and Gilad and Omri Sharon alongside Yair and Avner Netanyahu. Shaul Olmert is the only son of Ehud Olmert, and Gilad and Omri Sharon are the two sons of Ariel Sharon, former Prime Ministers of Israel. Mashregh News is considered one of the media outlets close to Iran's security apparatus. The website published this photo and names a week after the killing of Jihad Mughniyeh, the son of Imad Mughniyeh, who was killed in an airstrike attributed to Israel in the Golan Heights of Syria. Brigadier General Mohammad Ali Allahdadi, a senior commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Mohammad Hassan Eisa, a commander of Hezbollah, and several others were also killed in that attack. The website stated that after the missile attack on Hezbollah's convoy in Syria, Hezbollah is expected to 'hunt' the children of Israeli leaders. Some experts suggest that this website aimed to 'warn' Israeli leaders that if they have killed the young son of Imad Mughniyeh, their sons could also be killed. However, some subsequent searches on the Mashregh News website raise the possibility that this photo and report may have been removed from the site. Iranian media have recently published numerous images of Jihad Mughniyeh alongside Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, as well as Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of the IRGC. Hezbollah and Iran attributed the killing of Imad Mughniyeh, the military commander of Hezbollah with close ties to the Islamic Republic, to Israel; Imad Mughniyeh was killed in a bombing in Damascus in February 2008. While Mashregh News published the names of the sons of three Israeli Prime Ministers from the last two decades and a photo of Netanyahu's young sons, just hours earlier, Hossein Salami, the deputy commander of the IRGC, stated that a 'specific revenge' would be taken against Israel. On Saturday, January 24, Salami said that in response to the blood spilled in Quneitra, 'something specific will definitely be done.' Mohammad Reza Naqdi, the commander of the Basij, also stated on Sunday, January 25, that 'the martyrdom of Allahdadi is a license to respond to Israel.' Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander of the IRGC, has also emphasized efforts 'to the destruction' of Israel in recent days.