Expert: Israel's rhetoric echoes Azerbaijan's 'iron fist' narrative

Armenian analyst Sergey Melkonian, a research fellow at APRI Armenia, has drawn parallels between Israel’s current rhetoric and that previously employed by Azerbaijan following the launch of a massive Israel offensive in Gaza City.

In a social media post on Tuesday, he quoted Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant as saying: “The IDF is striking terrorist infrastructure with an iron fist and IDF soldiers are fighting bravely…”

According to Melkonian, the expression “iron fist” mirrors terminology used by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev during the 2023 attack on Artsakh (Nagono-Karabakh) and its ethnic cleansing.

“Israel echoes Azerbaijan’s narrative. It remains to be seen whether this will result in the adoption of identical conflict resolution tools,” the expert wrote.