Thousands of paramilitary members march on US Embassy in Baghdad following deadly strikes.

Israeli Air Force Commander Maj.-Gen. Amikam Norkin stands alongside senior US Air Force officers in Washington (photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
Israeli Air Force Commander Maj.-Gen. Amikam Norkin stands alongside senior US Air Force officers in Washington (photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)

 

The strikes against an Iranian proxy group in Iraq are a potential game changer, the Commander of Israel’s Air Force said Tuesday as thousands of members of Shiite militias marched on the US embassy in Baghdad in response to the deadly strikes.

“The attack by the United States Air Force are a potential game changer,” Maj.-Gen. Amikam Norkin said at a conference held by Calcalist of the American strikes on Kata’ib Hezbollah locations in Syria and Iraq which killed some 25 paramilitary fighters.

The strikes came two days after a barrage of over 30 rockets were fired by the Iranian-backed militia towards the K1 Iraqi military base in Kirkuk, killing a US civilian contractor and wounded dozens of Iraqi and American troops.

In a statement on Sunday, outgoing Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi called the strikes a “dangerous escalation that threatens the security of Iraq and the region.”

According to Abdul Mahdi, US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper called him close to 30 minutes before to inform him of the coming strikes. During the call Abdul Mahdi demanded that Esper call off the strikes as they would lead to a further escalation.

Both Israel and the US have warned that Iran and it’s proxy militias are the biggest threats to peace in the region and hope to weaken Tehran’s growing influence across the Middle East and the Persian Gulf.

During the conference on Tuesday Norkin said that the connection between the Israeli Air Force and the Americans is an asset that strengthens Israel’s aerial superiority.

As reported by The Jerusalem Post