US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, during a conversation with the foreign ministers of the G7 states ("Big Seven"), said that Iran and the terrorist group "Hezbollah" could strike Israel within the next 24-48 hours. That is, the attack can begin as early as August 5.
This is reported by Axios, citing three anonymous sources.
The US is confident that Iran and Hezbollah will take revenge on Israel. However, the exact time of the start of the attack and how it will differ from the previous attack in April 2024, when Iran fired almost 350 missiles and attack drones at Israel, is still unknown.
Against this background, Iran published a NOTAM message for pilots, in which it warned about the danger of flying over the center, west and northwest of the country, advising to choose other routes.
And Israel is considering the possibility of "preventive actions" against the background of the threat of an attack from Iran. As The Times of Israel writes, citing the words of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this can be done in Lebanon and "in other places where necessary."
The Wall Street Journal writes that Tehran rejected calls from the US to refrain from a new attack on Israel after the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniya. According to the newspaperʼs source, Iranian officials said they did not care whether the attack would lead to a new war in the Middle East or not.
What preceded
On July 27 , Lebanon struck the village of Majdal-Shams on the Golan Heights in the north of Israel. The rockets hit the football field, where there were children at the time — 12 children and teenagers were killed, and more than 30 were injured. The Israeli army blamed the attack on Hezbollah, which the group denies.
Already on July 30 , Israel attacked Beirut in response to an attack by Hezbollah. The target of the strike was the Hezbollah commander believed to be responsible for the childrenʼs deaths, Fuad Shukra, a senior adviser to the groupʼs leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
And on July 31, one of the leaders of the Palestinian group Hamas, Ismail Haniya, was killed in the capital of Iran, Tehran. This happened after he took part in the inauguration ceremony of the new president of Iran, Massoud Pezeshkian. The New York Times later found out that Hania was killed by a bomb hidden in his guest house.
Iranʼs Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ordered a direct attack on Israel after Haniyaʼs death. According to the Financial Times, after that, American and European diplomats held urgent talks in the Middle East to prevent a large-scale escalation, because Israel is threatened with retaliation by both Iran and Hezbollah.