Report: Iran plans to carry out retaliatory strike on Israel on Tisha B’Av, August 12-13

Unnamed Western intelligence sources quoted by the UAE-owned Sky News Arabia indicate that Iran and Hezbollah plan to launch their retaliatory strike against Israel on Tisha B’av, the day of mourning for the destruction of the two Jewish temples, which begins this year at sunset on August 12 and ends on August 13 at nightfall.

The sources indicate that the choice of the day is due to several psychological and tactical considerations. It may aim to revive historical traumas for Jews of destruction and uprooting, thereby amplifying the psychological impact of the attack on Israeli society.

To Muslim audiences receptive to Iran and Hezbollah’s narrative, an attack on Tisha B’Av would signal that Israel is vulnerable to destruction, the way Jews have historically been, the sources add.

A large-scale attack on a day of religious significance may also exploit Israel’s lowered defenses and “increase the state of chaos,” the way Egypt did with its surprise attack on Yom Kippur in 1973, the sources add.