Jerusalem (Israel): The military of Israel has said it is prepared to defend the country and strike back if Iran decides to attack. Iran has been threatening to avenge the deaths of two of its generals killed in an airstrike in Damascus last week. It blames Israel for the strike, though Israel has not commented.
Israel’s military said Thursday it is prepared to defend the country and strike back if Iran retaliates for a deadly airstrike on the Iranian Consulate in Syria.
The army’s chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, told reporters Thursday that an attack from Iranian territory “would be clear proof of Iranian intentions to escalate the Middle East and stop hiding behind the proxies.” He said Israel has improved its offensive and defensive capabilities in recent months. “We will know how to act where needed,” he said.
Hagari said the head of the U.S. military’s Central Command, Gen. Erik Kurilla, arrived in Israel for a strategic assessment with Israeli military leaders.
Israel has called up additional air defence units and activated other troops in anticipation of an attack by either Iran or the many proxy militant groups it supports in the region.
Tehran holds Israel responsible for the attack earlier this month, which the U.S. military believes Israel carried out. Israel has not commented on it. The increased tensions have sparked international concern that Israel's devastating war against Hamas in Gaza could spill over into the rest of the Middle East.
U.S. President Joe Biden said this week that the U.S. commitment to Israel’s security remains ironclad. Biden said this week that Israel is not doing enough to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Israeli bombardments and ground offensives have killed at least 33,360 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 74,993, the Health Ministry says. The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its tally but says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead.
Six months of fighting in Gaza have pushed the tiny Palestinian territory into a humanitarian crisis, leaving more than 1 million people on the brink of starvation. The head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Samantha Power, told lawmakers Wednesday she accepted “credible” reports that famine is now occurring in hard-hit northern Gaza. The war started on October 7 when Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis in a surprise attack, mostly civilians. Palestinian militants took around 250 people hostage. (With AP inputs)
