[IsraelTimes] Bracing for the threatened response by Iran and Hezbollah to the killings of Ismail Haniyeh and Fuad Shukr, Israel is reportedly working to finalize the coordination of a regional and international coalition in order to thwart potential attacks, as was the case when Iran fired hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel on April 13-14.
According to Channel 12, this joint effort will be at the heart of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expected conversation shortly with US President Joe Biden.
To that end, Britain’s defense secretary John Healey is expected to fly to Israel tomorrow, the report says.
Yesterday, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin publicly said the US would “help defend Israel” if it is attacked in the wake of the Haniyeh killing. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the Hamas leader’s death in Tehran.
As of this writing, Israel’s Home Front Command has not issued new instructions to civilians regarding threats of revenge by Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas.
An unsourced Channel 12 report also says Israel has conveyed a message via Arab and other regional third parties to Hezbollah that, whereas the Lebanese terror group killed 12 children in Majdal Shams on Saturday night, Israel responded by hitting a military target, Shukr. If Hezbollah responds, the Israeli message is quoted as saying, it will be a case of “army against army. But if you start to hit civilian targets, this will be a broad war against Hezbollah, and Israel will see itself as unconstrained.”
What this means, the TV report suggests, is not that Israel would target civilians, but that it could target Lebanese infrastructure, including in Beirut. The goal of the message, the report says, is to constrain Hezbollah.
Channel 12 also quotes an unnamed senior Israeli source saying the current high state of military preparation for a potential attack could last for several days. While Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah “could attempt to respond quickly,” the source says, it could take the Iranians longer to decide “how and when they want to respond.”
The report also says that Biden, in his call with Netanyahu, is expected to press Netanyahu to utilize Israel’s latest achievements and show flexibility in efforts to conclude a ceasefire-hostage deal with Hamas in Gaza.
However, Netanyahu, the report says, is convinced that only military pressure has yielded Hamas flexibility to date, and that now is not the time to take the foot off the gas.
Report: US worried Hezbollah involvement in potential Iran attack could impact regional defense coalition
[IsraelTimes] The Biden administration believes Iran is going to attack Israel in the coming days as revenge for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran earlier this week, according to senior US officials quoted by Hebrew media.
The officials quoted by the Walla news site add that Washington is prepared to help Israel stop a potential attack from Iran and its proxies in the region, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Palestinian Hamas terror group.
The US assessment is that the reprisal will be similar to Iran’s attack on April 13-14 when it launched a barrage of missiles and drones at Israel in retaliation for a deadly strike on Revolutionary Guard generals in Damascus on April 1. Almost all of some 300 projectiles in the barrage were shot down.
However, the officials say the response will likely be larger in scope, as it will likely involve Hezbollah, according to the Walla report.
The report adds that senior Biden administration officials are concerned that this could make pulling together a regional and international coalition to thwart potential attacks, as was the case when Iran fired hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel in April, more difficult.
The US, Britain, Jordan and France all helped to intercept the massive barrage, while several Gulf States, among them Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, reportedly passed on intelligence about Tehran’s plans to attack Israel, providing vital information that was key to the success of the air defense measures. 
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