Israel Prepares for Expected Attacks by Iran and Hezbollah

[Pelican Press 0]

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******* Prepares for Expected Attacks by Iran and Hezbollah

******* is girding for widely anticipated retaliatory attacks by Iran and Hezbollah, telling its people this week to stock up on food and water in fortified safe rooms, while hospitals prepare to move patients to underground wards and search-and-rescue teams position themselves in major cities.

The ******** government’s security cabinet convened on Thursday night as speculation continued over how the country’s enemies might respond to the ******** of a Hezbollah leader in Lebanon, and of ******’s top official while he was visiting Iran. Diplomats across the Middle East and elsewhere have tried to tamp down the tensions amid fears that the *******-****** war raging in the Gaza Strip could broaden into a much ******* conflict across the region.

Intelligence has been sparse and changes frequently. But two ******** officials and a senior Western intelligence official said that based on the latest information, Hezbollah, the Lebanese armed group closely allied with Iran, will likely strike first in a separate ******* before Iran conducts its own retaliation. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, and did not provide further details about the potential attacks.

The latest crisis follows the assassinations last week of Fuad Shukr, a top Hezbollah military commander, and Ismail Haniyeh, ******’s political leader. ******* has said it ******* Mr. Shukr in retaliation for a rocket ******* from Lebanon that ******* 12 children and teenagers, while refusing to comment on the blast that ******* Mr. Haniyeh in Tehran, which has been widely attributed to *******.

Iran has vowed revenge for the ******** of Mr. Haniyeh on its soil, calling it an egregious violation of Iranian sovereignty. Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, said in an address this week that the group’s response to the ******** of Mr. Shukr would be severe.

“Let the ******, and those who stand behind them, await our inevitable response,” said Mr. Nasrallah. “We are looking for a true response, not a superficial one,” he added.

For the past 10 months, a low-grade war has been underway along the *******-Lebanon border that began when Hezbollah — like ****** an ally of Iran’s — opened ***** on ******* a day after the ******-led ******* that set off the war in Gaza. The most serious blows have raised fears of an escalatory spiral.

******* and Iran last reached a similar standoff in April in the wake of an ******** strike on an Iranian diplomatic building in Syria that ******* senior Iranian generals who acted as Tehran’s liaisons to Hezbollah. But in that case, Iran’s retaliation was telegraphed well in advance. It fired roughly 300 ballistic missiles and drones at *******, which intercepted most of the munitions with help from the ******* States and its allies.

******** officials say they are ready for any potential ******* by Iran and its proxies. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told soldiers that ******* was “prepared for defense, as well as offense.”

“We are striking our enemies and determined to defend ourselves,” he said.

Military analysts say, however, that ******* is better prepared for some scenarios than for others.

Since the 1990s, ******* has built a vaunted defense apparatus to protect its citizens from aerial *******. Aided by billions in ********* aid, the country invested in advanced antimissile systems, while requiring that reinforced ***** shelters be built in houses and apartment buildings.

But Iran and Hezbollah could ***** enough munitions at once to overwhelm *******’s defenses. In addition, they can launch swarms of drones, which fly at low altitudes on unpredictable trajectories and leave little radar signature, making them more difficult than rockets and missiles to track and ********.

In April, the ******* States and ******* assembled a coalition that worked with Britain, France and Jordan, among others, to intercept Iranian missiles and drones before they reached ******** territory. It was unclear whether there would be as much international cooperation this time around.

Last week, the ******* States said it had ordered more combat aircraft and warships capable of ********* down missiles and drones to the Middle East in response to the threats from Iran and its allies.

The assassinations of Mr. Shukr and Mr. Haniyeh have disrupted cease-***** talks for the war in Gaza that appeared to be gathering momentum in July.

Mr. Haniyeh was one of the leading ****** figures in the cease-***** negotiations. His replacement as the group’s political chief, Yahya Sinwar, ******’s leader in Gaza and an architect of the ******-led Oct. 7 attacks, is a hard-liner who has long wielded a decisive veto on any cease-***** proposal due to his control on the ground in the enclave, according to U.S. and ******** officials. He is believed to be hiding in tunnels in Gaza.

Two ****** officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said that ******’s point man in the indirect cease-***** talks with *******, Khalil al-Hayya, would continue in his role meeting with Qatari and Egyptian mediators, and transmitting the group’s positions.

Mr. al-Hayya, a longtime resident of Gaza, left the territory before Oct. 7 and has spent much of his time in Doha, Qatar, and in Istanbul. While Mr. Hayya has served as the head of ******’s negotiating team, other officials in the group have taken part in the talks and ****** could include others besides Mr. Hayya in future negotiations.

******** bombardment of Gaza continued on Thursday, with *******’s military saying it had attacked two school compounds — no longer in use as schools — striking what it said were “command and control centers” for ****** in eastern Gaza City. ************ Civil Defense, an arm of the ******-run government of Gaza, said the strikes ******* 16 people and others were still missing beneath the rubble. Overall, the Gazan authorities say almost 40,000 have been confirmed ******* in the war.

On Thursday, the military ordered the evacuation of a large area in and around Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, a day after telling people living in parts of northern Gaza to flee southward. Such orders are usually preludes to ******** attacks. The actions continue the pattern of recent months in which the military strikes areas that were already cleared and decimated earlier in the war, saying that ****** had regrouped there and fired on ******* or its troops.

The evacuations also continue a cycle of displacement for civilians who have fled the fighting multiple times, many of them living in overcrowded tent camps and shelters.

Suzan Abu Daqqa, 59, fled her house in Abasan al-Kabira, a suburb of Khan Younis, for at least the third time, joining the tide of people seeking to escape the feared ******** advance. The last time ******* ordered an evacuation, she stayed in her home with her elderly relatives, hoping the ******** offensive would not reach them. This time, a shell exploded near her house, so they left.

“There were displaced people everywhere, walking on their feet, from Abasan all the way to Khan Younis,” she said.

The ******* Nations says the humanitarian situation ******** desperate in Gaza, and Britain and the ********* Union this week condemned Bezalel Smotrich, the far-right ******** finance minister, for

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to starve two million civilians in Gaza until the hostages held there are returned. Mr. Smotrich has a strong influence over policy as the leader of a party that helps keep Mr. Netanyahu’s coalition government in power.

“Deliberate starvation of civilians is a war ******: Minister Smotrich advocating for it is beyond ignominious,” the E.U.’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell Fontelles, said in a

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on social media on Wednesday. The British foreign secretary, David Lammy, called on the ******** government to “retract and condemn” the remarks.

Eric Schmitt contributed reporting.

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