Israel On 'High Alert' After Twin Hamas, Hezbollah Killings; Biden, Netanyahu Hold Phone Call As Iran Vows Response

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on Thursday said its military is on ‘high alert’ and ready to handle any threat, as the country braces for a response to the assassinations this week of Hezbollah’s military chief in Beirut and Hamas’s leader in Tehran. A series of killings of anti-Israel militant leaders is raising fears of a regional conflict and jeopardising fragile ceasefire talks in Gaza.

On Wednesday, Ismail Haniyeh, the political chief of Hamas, was killed shortly after attending the inauguration of Iran’s new president in Tehran. While Israel has not claimed responsibility, Iran has accused the US of involvement and threatened retaliation against Israel. This assassination follows the killing of Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut just a day earlier.

Hamas, Hezbollah vow response

Shukur’s death came after a rocket attack in the Golan Heights that killed 12 people, an incident Hezbollah denied responsibility for. The situation remains tense, with both Hamas and Hezbollah vowing to retaliate, raising concerns that the conflict could escalate further in the region. “Since the beginning of the war. we have faced various threats from far and near,” IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a press conference. “We have proven recently that the State of Israel knows how to deal with threats in defense, and to respond with a mighty attack,” Hagari added.

‘Good defence systems’

Hagari said the IDF is holding continuous assessments on the situation, but as of now, there is no change to Home Front Command guidelines for civilians. “We have our finger on the pulse all the time.” “We have very good defence systems, and we have international allies that bolstered their forces in the area to aid us against these threats,” he said. But alongside this, Hagari said that Israel’s defenses are “not hermetic.”

“Be vigilant and continue to follow the instructions of the Home Front Command,” he said, adding that if there are any changes, the military will update immediately. Hagari said that “the IDF is on high alert, both in defense and in attack. IDF troops are deployed in the air, at sea, and on the ground, and are ready for any scenario, and especially with plans to carry out attacks in the immediate time-frame.”

Biden-Netanyahu Call

US President Joe Biden told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday that Washington is committed to defending Israel’s security “against all threats from Iran,” the White House said, after the assassination of a top Hamas leader in Tehran. Biden, who was joined on the call by Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, also stressed the “ongoing efforts to de-escalate broader tensions in the region,” the White House said in a statement.

Biden “reaffirmed his commitment to Israel’s security against all threats from Iran, including its proxy terrorist groups Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Huthis,” the White House said in a readout of the president’s call with Netanyahu. “The president discussed efforts to support Israel’s defense against threats, including against ballistic missiles and drones, to include new defensive US military deployments,” it said.

Potential retaliation

Top Iranian officials will meet the representatives of Iran’s regional allies from Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen on Thursday to discuss potential retaliation against Israel after the killing of the Hamas leader in Tehran. Representatives of Iran’s Palestinian allies Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, as well as Yemen’s Tehran-backed Houthi movement, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iraqi resistance groups will attend the meeting in Tehran, said the sources, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.

“Iran and the resistance members will conduct a thorough assessment after the meeting in Tehran to find the best and most effective way to retaliate against the Zionist regime (Israel),” said a senior Iranian official, with direct knowledge of the meeting to news agency Reuters. Another Iranian official said Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and senior members of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards will attend.

“How Iran and the resistance front will respond is currently being reviewed … This will certainly happen and the Zionist regime (Israel) will undoubtedly regret it,” General Mohammad Baqeri, Iran’s armed forces chief of staff, told state TV on Thursday. Haniyeh and the leader of the Islamic Jihad, Ziad al-Nakhala, as well as senior representatives of Yemen’s Tehran-backed Houthi movement and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, attended the inauguration ceremony for Iran’s new president in Tehran on Tuesday. Hezbollah deputy leader Naim Qassim and lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah were in Iran for the inauguration and have remained there for the funeral and meeting, the agency said.

‘Major Repercussions’

Hamas’ armed wing has said in a statement Haniyeh’s killing would “take the battle to new dimensions and have major repercussions”. Promising to retaliate, Iran said the U.S. bore responsibility because of its support for Israel. “Iran asked key commanders of the Iraqi resistance groups to travel to Tehran on Wednesday to attend an urgent meeting to discuss retaliation against recent Israeli strikes, including in Lebanon and Iran and the U.S. strike in Iraq,” said an Iraqi militia local commander.

Another militia source said the resistance group commanders left to attend Haniyeh’s funeral and also to attend a “top urgent meeting” to decide the following steps to retaliate against Israel and the United States. Iranians turned out to mourn Haniyeh on Thursday, a day after he was assassinated. “All fronts of the resistance will take revenge for Haniyeh’s blood,” Ali Akbar Ahmadian, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, told Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency.

(With agency inputs)