Israel is bracing for a potential multi-day attack from Iran and Lebanon in retaliation for the killing of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders last week.
An Israeli official told NBC News.
Israel bracing for strikes from Iran and Hezbollah
Israel fears waves of missiles and drones could be launched over the next few days in retaliation for the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr.
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“They’re just going to try to wear us down,” an Israeli official said official.
According to him, Hezbollah is expected to attack Israel from the north, while Iran will use longer-range weapons to strike from the east.
Israel claims attack from Lebanon
On Monday morning, August 5, the Israel Defense Forces reported shelling from Lebanon. Thus, the country's armed forces shot down aerial targets, as a result of which debris fell in the north.
According to the IDF, after sirens sounded in the upper Galilee, numerous suspicious aerial targets were detected crossing Lebanon.
Several interceptors were launched towards the targets. Debris was later found falling near Ayelet HaShahar.
As a result of the shelling in the area, an IDF officer and soldier were moderately wounded and were evacuated to a hospital for medical treatment.
A fire broke out due to falling debris. The IDF said that rescuers were trying to extinguish the fire.
Blinken gives timeframe for attack on Israel
Earlier, US officials said they expected Iran to attack Israel on Monday, August 5.
Subsequently, according to Axios sources, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also said this in a conversation with his G7 counterparts.
According to him, an attack by Iran and Hezbollah on Israel could begin as early as today, August 5.
Blinken convened a conference call to coordinate with close US allies in the G7 to try to put diplomatic pressure on Iran and Hezbollah to minimize their retaliation.
He said limiting the impact of Islamist strikes is the best chance to prevent a full-scale war.
Blinken stressed that the US is confident that Iran and Hezbollah will take revenge. However, he did not specify what form the retaliation would take.
Anthony Blinken said the United States does not know the exact timing of the attacks, but noted that they could begin as early as the next 24-48 hours, which would mean as early as Monday.
He stressed that the United States is making efforts to break the escalation cycle by trying to limit Iran and Hezbollah’s attacks as much as possible and then contain Israel’s response.
The US Secretary of State called on the G7 foreign ministers to apply diplomatic pressure on Iran, Hezbollah and Israel in order to maintain maximum restraint.
Escalation in the Middle East East
Recall that at the end of July this year, it became known about the liquidation of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, as well as one of his guards.
Iran and Hamas militants immediately accused Israel of the death of their leader, but Jerusalem did not confirm or deny its involvement. It is noteworthy that after the attack on October 7, 2023, the Jewish authorities promised to liquidate Hamas leaders.
In particular, before the liquidation of Ghaniyeh, one of the Hezbollah commanders, Fuad Shukr, was also killed.
After the strikes, the spiritual and de facto leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to the NYT, gave the order to strike Israel. Subsequently, Iran announced the approach of “interesting events”, which the whole world would allegedly see in a few hours.
In addition, Axios wrote that after the escalation, the US began preparing for a possible attack on the Israelis by Iran.
