Report: US worried Hezbollah involvement in potential Iran attack could impact regional defense coalition

The Biden administration believes Iran is going to attack Israel in the coming days as revenge for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran earlier this week, according to senior US officials quoted by Hebrew media.

The officials quoted by the Walla news site add that Washington is prepared to help Israel stop a potential attack from Iran and its proxies in the region, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Palestinian Hamas terror group.

The US assessment is that the reprisal will be similar to Iran’s attack on April 13-14 when it launched a barrage of missiles and drones at Israel in retaliation for a deadly strike on Revolutionary Guard generals in Damascus on April 1. Almost all of some 300 projectiles in the barrage were shot down.

However, the officials say the response will likely be larger in scope, as it will likely involve Hezbollah, according to the Walla report.

The report adds that senior Biden administration officials are concerned that this could make pulling together a regional and international coalition to thwart potential attacks, as was the case when Iran fired hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel in April, more difficult.

The US, Britain, Jordan and France all helped to intercept the massive barrage, while several Gulf States, among them Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, reportedly passed on intelligence about Tehran’s plans to attack Israel, providing vital information that was key to the success of the air defense measures.