Israeli intelligence officials believe Iran has settled on attacking Israel in the coming days over the assassination of Hamas’ top leader, according to a new report.
The updated assessment on Tehran’s expected retaliation suggests the attack could even come before Thursday, sources told Axios reporter Barak Ravid.
That would be before scheduled hostage negotiation talks between Hamas and Israel on Aug. 15, which the terror group announced Sunday it was backing out of.
Iran has been assessing its options on attacking Israel for nearly two weeks, after a suspected Israeli bomb killed former Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh while he was in Tehran on July 30.
Tehran has been weighing how to retailiate after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered a direct attack on Israel over Haniyeh’s assassination, with many in Iran and across the world fearing that such an escalation would erupt into a full-scale war in the Middle East.
Iran’s newly elected president, Masoud Pezeshkian, was reportedly fighting with hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leaders over the weekend regarding Tehran’s response.
The IRGC’s top generals, embarrassed over the killing of Hamas’ top official on Iranian soil, are pushing for the Islamic Republic to launch direct missile strikes on military bases in Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities, the Independent reported.
But Pezeshkian allegedly wants to target the hidden bases of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency located in countries surrounding Iran.
The Islamic Republic appeared to settle on imminently attacking Israel after an emergency meeting of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Wednesday, when the group condemned Haniyeh’s assassination and said an Iranian strike was an appropriate response.
But much like Pezeshkian, the OIC stressed that the retaliatory strike must not threaten all-out war in the Middle East.
Adding to tensions is an expected attack on Israel from the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, which also vowed revenge on the Jewish state over the assassination of senior commander Fuad Shukr.
As with the looming Iranian strike, experts believe an attack from Hezbollah is imminent and likely to start a war between Israel and Lebanon.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant issued a warning last week saying Hezbollah will pay a heavy price should its near-daily attacks against northern Israel escalate to a point of no return.
“This may also deteriorate into a war. It’s not theoretical, it’s real,” Gallant said.
With Post wires
