Biden heading to Situation Room as Iran threatens attack on Israel
President Joe Biden will meet with his national security team in the Situation Room later Monday as tensions between Iran and Israel rise.
The Islamic Republic could attack Israel within 24 to 48 hours after a major attack by Hezbollah that wounded two IDF soldiers, top Western diplomats have warned.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told the G7 yesterday that an attack was imminent in response to Israel’s killings of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Fuad Shukr in Beirut, Axios reported.
Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III reportedly spoke with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant on Sunday to assure the Jewish state of US support.
It would be the second time Iran has directly attacked Israel during the growing Middle East crisis. The first was in April, when the country fired a salvo of missiles and drones overnight.
President Joe Biden will meet with his national security team in the Situation Room later Monday amid heightened tensions between Iran and Israel.
Shocking footage from the region showed the Iron Dome system firing defensive missiles to intercept the barrage attack
But unlike the April attack, the US admitted in a private conversation with G7 members that it does not know what the expected retaliatory strike will look like.
Despite this, Iran has made it clear that it intends to attack its enemy, claiming that it has the “legal right” to respond to Haniyeh’s killing. Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani told a news conference: “No one has the right to question Iran’s legal right to punish the Zionist regime.”
Meanwhile, the leader of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, General Hossein Salami, threatened Israel, warning that the state was “digging its own grave” by continuing the war against the terror group Hamas.
“They will see the result of their mistake. They will see when, how and where they will get their response,” Salami said in a speech.
The threats from Iran came just hours after Hezbollah, backed by the Iranian regime, fired a silo containing 30 rockets from Lebanon toward the Upper Galilee.
The Israeli army of Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured) expects an attack within 24 to 48 hours
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (pictured) is poised to attack Israel soon
Shocking footage from the region showed Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system firing missiles to intercept the barrage.
Despite this, two Israeli soldiers were wounded in the attack, which also caused fires in northern Israel.
Hezbollah said in a statement that it struck a military base in northern Israel in response to “attacks and killings” carried out by Israel in several villages in southern Lebanon.
Rising tensions between Israel, Hezbollah and Iran have led to growing fears of an all-out war in the Middle East between Israel and Tehran’s allies.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country was already engaged in a “multi-front war” with Iran, adding during a cabinet meeting on Sunday that Israel was ready for any scenario.
Netanyahu is also accused of not being “genuinely interested in a ceasefire,” as Hamas’ Haniyeh was the terror group’s lead negotiator on the ceasefire.
Middle East expert Andreas Krieg said his killing, and that of Shukur, undone months of work by American, Qatari and Egyptian mediators.
Despite increasingly pro-war rhetoric and fading hopes for a permanent ceasefire, many of Israel’s allies are doing everything they can to ease tensions in the region.
The US said during the G7 meeting on Sunday that it decided to increase its military capacity in the region to strengthen its defense.
The attack injured two Israeli soldiers and also caused a fire in northern Israel
The party is also said to have asked other members to exert diplomatic pressure on Israel, Iran and Hezbollah in an attempt to reduce tensions.
The G7 ministers said in a statement: “We express our deep concern about the increased tensions in the Middle East, which threaten to spark a broader conflict in the region.
‘We urge all parties involved to stop perpetuating the current destructive cycle of retaliatory violence, to reduce tensions and work constructively towards de-escalation. No country or nation benefits from further escalation in the Middle East.’
Meanwhile, several countries have urged their citizens to leave the region, fearing that diplomatic measures to stem the rising tensions will fail.
Japan and Turkey today called on their citizens to leave Lebanon, while France and Italy called on their citizens to leave a day earlier.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas in retaliation for an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 that killed 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Militants also captured 251 hostages, 111 of whom remain in Gaza. The army says 39 are dead.
At least 39,583 people have been killed in Gaza by the Israeli retaliation, according to the territory’s Ministry of Health. The ministry did not provide details on the number of civilians and militants killed.