By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
BEIRUT/TEHRAN/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Israel was anticipating an imminent massive attack by Iran and Lebanon-based Hezbollah on Tuesday following warnings by the United States.
U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken told his counterparts from the Group of Seven (G7) countries Sunday that an attack by Iran and Hezbollah against Israel could start as early as Monday, several sources said.
While that did not yet happen early Tuesday, preparations were underway as anger mounted in Iran and Lebanon over the killings of key leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah by Israel.
With war expected, foreigners in Lebanon were struggling to find flights out of the country.
Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah have vowed to respond to the assassinations by Israel of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut.
Sources said Blinken told G7 partners that the U.S. believes Iran and Hezbollah will both retaliate.
But unlike the Iranian attack against Israel on April 13 — in which Iran launched nearly 350 attack drones and missiles toward Israel, and Israel, the U.S., and their allies worked together to intercept most of them — Blinken said it’s unclear what form the retaliation will take.
Blinken said the U.S. doesn’t know the exact timing of the attacks but stressed it could start as early as the next 24-48 hours.
The secretary of state told his counterparts the U.S. is making efforts to break the escalatory cycle by trying to limit the attacks by Iran and Hezbollah as much as possible and then restrain the Israeli response.
Blinken reportedly stressed that limiting the impact of their strikes is the best chance to prevent all-out war.
Yet Israel has already faced a barrage of Hezbollah rockers and is still involved in a war against Hamas in Gaza after that group massacred some 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 others in Israel on October 7.
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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