The US is scrambling to revive a regional coalition that earlier this year succeeded in almost entirely thwarting a previous direct Iranian attack on Israel, reports said, while Israeli officials concede that this time around there may be damage and casualties.
An Iranian attack could come as soon as Monday, according to the Axios website that cited US and Israeli officials.
Iran, its Lebanese ally Hezbollah, and the Palestinian Islamist terror group Hamas blame Israel for the killing in Tehran on Wednesday of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. His assassination came just hours after a strike claimed by Israel killed Hezbollah’s military chief, Fuad Shukr, on Tuesday evening near Beirut. Israel has claimed responsibility for killing Shukr, but has not officially commented on Haniyeh, whose death Hamas, Iran and their allies have blamed on Israel.
Both Iran and Hezbollah have vowed revenge for the killings that came amid already explosive tensions against the background of Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel that the Iran-backed terror group says are in support of Gaza.
The Israeli security establishment is on “peak alert” and members of a US-led international coalition — including Britain and allied Arab states — aimed at thwarting potential Iranian attacks on “several fronts” are braced to try to deter and intercept them, Channel 12 reported. READ MORE
