Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presides over a Cabinet meeting on December 17, 2023 in Kiria, Tel Aviv, Israel (the seat of the Israeli Defense Ministry).
Menachem Kahana | Reuters
TEL AVIV — Israel is preparing for a possible multi-day attack by Iran and its ally Hezbollah. Two senior armed leaders assassinated an Israeli official told NBC News last week.
The official said Israel was concerned that waves of missiles and drones could be launched within days in response to the killing of a Hamas political leader. Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah Commander Fouad Shukr.
“They will just try to tire us out,” the official said.
The tensions mark another escalation in the Middle East War between Israel and Hamas continues for 10 monthswhich is characterized by worry comprehensive regional conflict coming soon.
Israel killed Shouk in an attack in Beirut’s southern suburbs last Tuesday. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, the attack in a predominantly Shiite community also killed three civilians, including two children, and injured 74 others.
The Israeli military accused Shook of launching an attack in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights that killed 12 children and said the price “in the blood of our people” could not be too high. Hezbollah denies responsibility for that attack.
Hours later, news emerged that Haniyeh had been killed in Tehran early Wednesday morning. Haniyeh is in Iran to attend the inauguration of new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
The day after Haniyeh’s assassination, President Joe Biden spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The president publicly said the killing would not help U.S. efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza. Israeli officials said the call was “tense.”
“The United States is under intense pressure to reach a ceasefire,” the official said. “Biden wants this to happen during his term.”
Israeli negotiators continued talks in Cairo on Saturday but left without a breakthrough, the official said.
Iranian officials vow retaliation against israelAlthough the country has yet to publicly admit responsibility for Haniyeh’s assassination. The Hezbollah leader also told his followers that Israel would be harmed by the attacks.
when iran Attack on Israel on April 13 – In response to the Damascus embassy bombing – it launched 300 ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones so that different warheads could reach Israel at the same time. The vast majority were intercepted by Israeli and U.S. forces, with Hezbollah largely absent from the fighting.
This time, Israeli officials said the attack could last for days, with Hezbollah attacking Israel from the north and Iran’s long-range weapons firing from the east.
It would mark Iran’s second direct attack on Israel this year, a rare front-on attack for a regime often seen acting through its proxies in the region.
Diplomats have been trying to avoid a larger regional war in the Middle East Since the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7 1,200 of them were killed and about 250 abducted. But those efforts have not stopped Hezbollah and the Houthis, two Iran-backed militia groups, from escalating attacks on Israel that their groups say support the Palestinian cause.
at the same time Gaza death toll continues to riseofficials’ latest estimates put the death toll in the enclave at nearly 40,000.
Families of the hostages remaining in Gaza have begged Netanyahu to reach a deal to bring their loved ones home. Families of some hostages detained last month for protesting during the Prime Minister’s speech to Congress during his visit to the United States
Rafe Sanchez reported from Tel Aviv. Madani reported from Doha from New York City.
