Rapid developments are unfolding in the Middle East, with Iran expected to launch a large-scale attack on Israel “within days” in retaliation for the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Hamas official, in Tehran.
As announced by the US Central Command, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered the USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN, carrying F-35C fighter jets, to accelerate its transition to the Middle East, where the USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT is already present. Additionally, the USS GEORGIA, a submarine equipped with guided missiles, has been requested to move towards the region.
It is recalled that earlier, the Israeli Defence Minister, Yoav Galant, during a conversation with the Secretary of Defense of the US, Lloyd Austin, emphasised that Iran’s military preparations indicate an imminent large-scale attack on Israel. The above was revealed by Barak Ravid, a reporter for the news website Axios, citing a source informed about the discussions.
Earlier, the same reporter noted that Israeli intelligence services now believe a direct Iranian attack is expected, possibly “within days,” in retaliation for the assassination of the senior Hamas official in Tehran, attributed to Israel.
Ravid cites two sources on the issue. As he clarifies, the latest assessment formed in Israeli intelligence circles in the last few hours is that Iran has decided to launch a direct attack. This could happen even before the summit on the hostage issue on August 15.
In a more recent post, Ravid noted that Hamas refuses to participate in the August 15 talks.
The picture from Israeli intelligence, Ravid further notes, is that international pressure on Iran is restraining it from carrying out a direct attack on Israel.However, the situation in Tehran remains fluid, and no final decisions have been made.
Ravid points out that in recent days, there has been a discussion between the Revolutionary Guards and Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, and his associates, regarding the response to Haniyeh’s assassination.
It seems that while the Revolutionary Guards were pushing for a more robust response than the April missile attack, the president’s advisers believed a large-scale response should be avoided.
Three dead, including two Hezbollah fighters, in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon
The Lebanese Ministry of Health announced today that three people were killed in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon, with a Hezbollah-affiliated source telling AFP that two of the victims were Hezbollah fighters.
Almost daily exchanges of fire have occurred between Hezbollah and the Israeli military since the start of the Gaza war in October.
The violence escalated with the Israeli assassination, on July 30, of a senior Hezbollah military commander, Fuad Shukr, and the head of the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran.
“The Israeli enemy’s strike on the city of Taybeh today left two people dead,” the ministry said in a statement. It added that a third person succumbed to his wounds today, after being the victim of an Israeli raid on the southern city of Beit Lif “a few days ago.” An AFP source close to Hezbollah stressed that the two victims in the city of Taybeh, which borders Israel, were Hezbollah fighters.
The Lebanese news agency ANI reported that “a drone fired two missiles at Taybeh.” The Israeli military announced that it had “struck several Hezbollah military facilities” in the Odaisseh area, near Taybeh.
Later, the army stressed in a second statement that it had “struck a Hezbollah terrorist cell in the Taybeh area” and another military structure in another nearby area.
In the evening, Hezbollah confirmed the death of two fighters from Israeli strikes.
Yesterday, the armed movement in Lebanon announced that it had launched drones carrying explosives at an Israeli military base in retaliation for the assassination of a senior Hamas official in Sidon, southern Lebanon.
On Friday, a Hamas official was killed in an Israeli air strike in Sidon, Lebanon. According to the Lebanese news agency NNA, Samer al-Haj was killed when an Israeli drone struck the car he was riding in. The Israeli military confirmed the killing.
(information from protothema.gr)incyprus
