Blinken ‘issues urgent warning about imminent revenge attack on Israel by Iran and Hezbollah’

Secretary of State Antony Blinken told his G7 counterparts that Iran and Hezbollah could carry out attacks on Israel as early as Monday.

Israel is preparing for an Iranian attack on five fronts “at any time” in revenge for the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Tehran on Wednesday, a day after an Israeli strike in Beirut killed Fuad Shukr, a senior military commander of the Lebanese group Hezbollah.

Tehran has been shocked after it emerged that the leader of the terrorist movement was killed by a bomb smuggled into the regime’s official guesthouse in the capital months ago.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has ordered the Islamic Republic’s National Security Council to launch a direct attack on Israel.

Joe Biden will convene his national security team in the situation room on Monday to discuss developments in the Middle East, the White House said. He is also expected to speak with Jordan’s King Abdullah.

Sources familiar with the call say it is unclear how Iran and Hezbollah will attack and that they do not know the exact timing.

When asked about the report, the Foreign Office referred to a read-out of the call, which said the ministers discussed “the urgent need for de-escalation in the Middle East”.

The Pentagon announced Friday that it would send additional fighter jets and naval vessels to the region.

“The primary goal is to lower the temperature in the region, deter and defend against attacks, and prevent conflict in the region,” White House deputy national security adviser Jonathan Finer said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

The US and Israel are preparing for every eventuality, Finer added.

There are fears the response could surpass Iran’s devastating attack in April, which brought hundreds of ballistic missiles, drones and cruise missiles frighteningly close to Israeli defenses.

In that attack, RAF fighter jets in Cyprus were defending Israeli airspace, but defence sources said last night that British bases were not on a “higher state of alert” and no additional aircraft had been deployed.

The US wants to be prepared if the situation arises again, Finer added.

In a telephone conversation with his Israeli counterpart, the Pentagon said that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reiterated the United States’ support for Israel’s security and “the right to self-defense against threats from Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah, the Houthis and other Iranian-backed terrorist groups.”

Blinken spoke with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Sunday and stressed “the importance of all parties taking steps to calm regional tensions, prevent further escalation, and promote stability,” the State Department said.

There are growing fears that Israel’s war against Palestinian militants in Gaza, which began last October after attacks on the Jewish state, could escalate into a wider conflict in the Middle East.

Iran and Hamas have blamed Israel for Haniyeh’s killing in the Iranian capital, and they have vowed revenge along with Hezbollah. Israel has neither claimed nor denied responsibility.

Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in his sleep at 2 a.m. on Wednesday after visiting Tehran for the presidential inauguration.

He was staying in a regime guest house and was protected by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in a part of the Neshat complex in the north of the city.

Two months earlier, a bomb had been smuggled in, top Middle Eastern officials told The New York Times. The bomb was detonated remotely when it was confirmed he was in his room. The massive explosion also killed his bodyguard.

Although Israel has not claimed responsibility, it is the fourth known Hamas leader to be killed since October 7 and is said to be compiling a “kill list.”

Just 12 hours before Haniyeh’s death, Israel killed Fuad Shukr, the military leader of Hezbollah, another Iranian ally in Lebanon.

Hassan Nasrallah, secretary-general of Hezbollah, vowed revenge last night, saying Israel had “crossed a red line”.

He said, ‘There is no discussion on this point. The only things that lie between us and you are the days, the nights and the battlefield.’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was prepared for any “aggression” as large crowds carrying Palestinian flags filled the streets of Tehran yesterday for Haniyeh’s funeral.

Meanwhile, 70,000 Israelis rushed to Tel Aviv airport to try to escape as tensions in the country rise.

Israel’s National Security Council is warning travelers to be extra careful abroad, fearing that Jewish institutions could be targeted by militants with ties to Iran.

Joe Biden said Friday that Haniyeh’s killing “does not advance the ceasefire negotiations” between Israel and Hamas.

Biden said he was “very concerned” about rising tensions in the Middle East, adding: “We have the basis for a ceasefire. He [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] must continue and they [Hamas] “I have to get on with it now.”

The latest bloodbath in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict broke out on October 7, when the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli counts.

While Biden hopes for a ceasefire, violence in the region has increased again in recent weeks.

In late July, Israel vowed to “hit the enemy hard” after rocket attacks from Lebanon killed 12 children in the Golan Heights, raising fears that the war could spread to the Middle East, while the United States desperately called for calm.

Explosions on a football field killed 12 people aged between 10 and 16 and wounded at least 37, sparking outrage in Israel as authorities accused Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement of firing a Falaq-1 Iranian missile.

The incident, described by Tel Aviv as a “massacre” and “the deadliest attack on Israeli civilians” since October 7, was met by Israel last night with a wave of drone strikes on Lebanon, ahead of what many fear is a larger, even deadlier retaliation.

Iran-backed Hezbollah, which regularly attacks Israeli military positions, denies any responsibility, but the US also determined on Sunday that the deaths were caused by a rocket fired from Lebanon.

According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, Israel has killed some 39,480 Palestinians and wounded more than 91,100 others in the 10-month campaign of bombardments and offensives in Gaza. The count does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

More than 80% of the 2.3 million inhabitants have been displaced from their homes, with the vast majority living in tent camps in the southwestern corner of the area, with limited food and water supplies.