Israel said finalizing coordination with international coalition to face potential attacks

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.