Israel Braced for Attack by Iran

After five days of tension, Israel and its allies are braced for an imminent attack by Iran and its proxies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, the Shiite militias in Syria and Iraq, as well as Hamas in Gaza, the West Bank and Syria.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken briefed colleagues from the G7 countries on Sunday, updating them about the latest intelligence reports which indicate the attack could begin as early as Monday. He convened the conference call to coordinate positions with America`s closest allies.

Another view is that the Iranians may hold off for another week until the Jewish fast day of Tisha B’Av which starts at sunset on Monday 12th August and runs through to sunset Tuesday 13th. It is a day when Jews remember several disasters that befell the nation in the past, including the destruction of both First and Second Temples.

[NOTE: the date of Tisha B’Av in this article was corrected on 6th August.]

The situation is such that President Biden will convene the National Security team on Monday to review the situation in the Middle East. Along with allies, the Americans have continued their efforts to prevent further escalation of the conflict. Jordan has joined that effort, with its Foreign Minister making a rare visit to Iran.

The Iranian regime claims it is not interested in escalating the conflict but thinks it is necessary to punish Israel following the killing of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday. For them the situation is a matter of pride – their security systems were breached in a major way, causing them much embarrassment.

While they claim not to want an escalation of the conflict, Iranian officials have told Arab diplomats that they are determined to strike Israel even if that does start a regional war.

Israel is taking the threat seriously and has made many preparations to defend against an attack. On Sunday it revealed a new method of warning civilians in the case of a large-scale emergency. The ‘personal alert’ system enables the IDF to notify all owners of mobile phones in a particular area about any danger.

This report by France 24: