PM, security chiefs meet ahead of anticipated Iran, Hezbollah attacks; Israel said considering ‘preventive actions’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is convening with security chiefs this evening, as Israel prepares for anticipated attacks by Iran and Hezbollah, but it does not yet have a “definitive picture” of the attacks it will be facing, Channel 12 reports.

It also says Israel’s security establishment is considering the possibility of “preventive actions or attacks” Israel could initiate, “including in Lebanon or perhaps in other places as necessitated.”

Earlier this evening, when asked why Israel was not taking pre-emptive actions, IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari said, “We are watching our enemies on all fronts and certainly Hezbollah in Lebanon. We have very wide-ranging plans, we have a high readiness to act. Any instruction we get from the political echelon, we will carry out immediately.”

The TV report says that the US is also not certain what to expect from Iran and Hezbollah, but that a US-led international coalition to thwart any attacks has taken shape, and will be directed from CENTCOM in Qatar.

Asked by numerous countries how it will respond to such attacks, and whether it is heading for war, Israel has been saying “very ambiguously” that it is “keeping all its options open,” the report says.

That ambiguous response is one of the reasons why many countries are urging their citizens to leave Lebanon immediately, the report says.

It adds that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is considering visiting the region in the very near future, in light of US concern over a potential regional conflagration.

Channel 12 says the US has been reiterating that it has Israel’s back, and has asked Western nations to convey the message to Iran not to escalate and to warn Tehran that any significant attack will prompt a response.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier today that Iran has told Arab diplomats “it didn’t care if the response triggered a war.”

The Israeli TV report says there are indications that Iran is preparing for more than one round of attack and counterattack, as it seeks to recover from the humiliation of Wednesday morning’s strike in Tehran that killed Hamas terror group leader Ismail Haniyeh. Iran blames Israel for the killing; Israel has not claimed responsibility.

Channel 12 says the indications from Iran are that it will strike more harshly than it did in April, when it launched hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel in an attack that was almost completely thwarted.

In addition to the dozens of arrests Iran has been making as it tries to establish how Haniyeh was so precisely targeted, Channel 12 says that Hezbollah has been making dozens of arrests, as it investigates Tuesday night’s Israeli strike that killed its military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut.