Two US officials told CBS News that a major Iranian attack on Israel is expected as early as Friday, likely to include more than 100 drones and dozens of missiles aimed at military targets inside the country.
Officials said it would be a challenge for the Israelis to defend against an attack of that scale, and while they felt the Iranians might opt for a smaller-scale attack to avoid a dramatic escalation, their retaliation was believed to be imminent.
Tehran has not publicly indicated how or when it will fire back, so it is unclear how far Iran’s leaders will go.
If they decide to launch a direct attack on Israel, there are fears it could push Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas into a much wider regional conflict.
With Iranian retaliation expected at any time, the US State Department on Thursday warned Americans in Israel not to travel outside major cities, which are better protected from incoming rocket fire by the Iron Dome missile defense system.
The latest guidance states that travel by US government officials to Israel may be further restricted without notice depending on the situation.
Let us remind you that two weeks ago, an attack was carried out on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, in which several high-ranking officials of the Iranian Republican Guard were killed.
As tensions between the two countries rose over an Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate building in Damascus, the Syrian capital, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu implicitly threatened Tehran without naming names, saying “whoever harms us, we will harm him.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu visited the country’s Tel Nof air base and made assessments regarding a possible attack by Iran, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said.
Netanyahu said his country is in a position to meet all of its defense and offensive security needs.
He asserted that Israel is going through a difficult period and said that they are continuing with the attacks in Gaza at full speed, and on the other hand, they are continuing with the continuous efforts for the return of Israeli prisoners.
Noting that they are prepared for some difficult scenarios in other regions, Netanyahu said:
“We set a simple rule: Whoever harms us, we will harm him.”
Israel’s Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz, in his post on Platform X, stated that he would respond and target this country if an attack on Israel was launched from Iranian territory.
Israel is bracing for possible retaliation from Iran after Revolutionary Guard leader Mohammad Reza Zahidi was killed during an Israeli attack on the embassy in Damascus, the Syrian capital, on April 1.
The attack killed seven people from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, including two generals. In addition, six more Syrian citizens lost their lives in the attack, AAwrites.
