IDF prepares for major destruction in cities ahead of ‘imminent’ attack

Israel’s military deploys search and rescue battalions to a number of cities including Tel Aviv and Haifa in preparation for major destruction and attacks a Hezbollah military base in Lebanon.

Commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), General Michael Erik Kurilla (R) attendsmeeting with Israeli army Chief of General Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi (C) and Northern Command commanding officer Major-General Ori Gordin (L) at an undisclosed location. Picture: Israeli Army via AFP.

Israel’s military has deployed search and rescue battalions to a number of cities including Tel Aviv and Haifa in preparation for major destruction in the event of an Iranian attack.

As Hezbollah’s chief Hassan Nasrallah declared his group and Iran were “obliged to respond” to Israel “whatever the consequences,” the Israeli Defence Forces confirmed it had sent rapid rescue teams to cities in south and centre of the country to prepare for mass building collapses.

A permanent battalion has been deployed to the tourist city of Eilat, the Jerusalem Post reports.

The IDF also confirmed that Israel Air Force fighter jets struck a Hezbollah military base and a separate Hezbollah site in sourthern Lebanon on Tuesday.

On Tuesday night Lebanon security source said six Hezbollah fighters had been killed in an Israeli strike on the country’s south. Palestinian officials said that Israeli forces killed six people in two separate raids in the north of the disputed West Bank on Tuesday.

Israel has reportedly shared plans for a pre-emptive attack with foreign ambassadors, asking for their support.

Channel 12 TV reports the documents were sent to embassies around the world asking for support “expected Israeli moves in the campaign, whatever they may be.”

Earlier today, the anniversary of the killings last week of Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, a bellicose Nasrallah declared in a televised address Iran “finds itself obliged to respond, and the enemy is waiting in a great state of dread”, adding his group was also “obliged to respond”.

Hezbollah will retaliate “alone or in the context of a unified response from all the axis” of Iran-backed groups in the region, “whatever the consequences,” he added.

“Today, the region is facing real dangers,” he said.

Shortly before he spoke, Israeli warplanes flew low over Beirut, breaking the sound barrier in a move Nasrallah described as “petty”.

Breaking

Loudest sonic boom I have ever heard in the past few weeks over Beirut. Jets were right above us in downtown Beirut

This is what we saw pic.twitter.com/rkMU4umbG6

— Nafiseh Kohnavard (@nafisehkBBC) August 6, 2024

Mr Nasrallah’s address came as Iran prepares to launch a major military assault against ­Israel, forcing the US to rush more forces to the Middle East amid fears of a region-wide war.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday (AEST) appealed again to Iran and Israel not to ratchet up the conflict.

“No one should escalate this conflict. We’ve been engaged in intense diplomacy with allies and partners, communicating that message directly to Iran. We communicated that message directly to Israel,” Mr Blinken told reporters

US intelligence reportedly ­believes an attack by Iran on ­Israel is imminent and could ­involve two waves, one from Iran and one from Iran’s proxy, Hezbollah, in Lebanon.

Any major assault by Hezbollah could trigger a massive counter-attack in Lebanon, which would open a new and deadly front alongside the 10-month-old Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Benny Gantz, former member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet, called for a dramatic escalation in military pressure on Lebanon including targeting its infrastructure, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was given a detailed plan for retaliating against any attack by Hezbollah, including plans for a major pre-emptive strike rather than wait for an assault.

Regional tensions were further heightened by an attack on US troops at the al-Asad air base in Iraq by suspected Iran-backed Iraqi militia, which reportedly injured as many as seven American troops and civilians.

ezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addresses supporters to mark the first week since the killing of Hezbollah's top commander Fuad Shukr. Picture: Getty Images.

The attack did not appear to be a part of the anticipated larger Iranian offensive, but the White House said President Joe Biden had been briefed and had discussed steps that the administration would take “to defend our forces and respond to any attack against our personnel in a manner and place of our choosing”.

The US has warned Iran, via third nations, not to proceed with the attack, but it believes Tehran is determined to carry out its threat of retribution against Israel for last week’s twin assassinations of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hez­bollah military chief Fuad Shukr in Beirut.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has sent an additional squadron of F-22 fighter jets, as well as extra navy cruisers and ­destroyers, to the region, to help combat the expected Iranian ­attack. As well as an attack on ­Israel, the US fears its troops in Iraq and Syria could be targeted. There are about 2500 American troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria,

Mr Netanyahu said his country was “in a multi-front war against Iran’s evil axis” and was “prepared for any scenario – both offensively and defensively”.

Israel’s defence ministry said US Central Command chief, General Michael Kurilla, met with Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Israeli Defence Forces Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi to discuss co-ordinating “defence co-operation between the respective establishments and militaries”.

They also discussed “ways to expand the international ­coalition facing aggressive activities by Iran and its proxies against Israel, and destabilising the ­Middle East region,” the ministry said.

In Israel, several airlines cancelled flights in and out of the country, as Israelis stocked up on food and supplies, and prepared to take shelter. On Monday, Lebanon received 32 tonnes of emergency medical supplies from the World Health Organisation for “treating war wounds” in efforts to increase readiness for “escalation in the Israeli aggression on Lebanon”, a health ministry statement said.

Lebanon is ill-prepared for war, with public services including the health sector hit hard by a more than four-year economic crisis that has pushed many medical professionals to emigrate.

US and Israeli forces are preparing to potentially shoot down waves of missiles and drones launched from Iran, by Hezbollah in Lebanon or Iran’s proxies in Yemen, Iraq and Syria.

In April Iran launched more than 300 missiles and drones against Israel in retaliation for an Israeli attack on Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Syria. But the attack was flagged ahead of time and Israeli, US and other Western forces combined to shoot down almost all of the missiles before they reached Israel.

However, any major missile attack on Israel by Hezbollah in Lebanon would be much more difficult to intercept given the shorter distances involved.

Israel has not confirmed that it was involved in the assassination of Haniyeh, who was killed by an explosion in his room in Tehran, but Iran has blamed Israel for it and has also accused the US of being complicit in the killing.

The US has denied any knowledge of the plot against Haniyeh, who was the key negotiator for Hamas in discussions for a ceasefire and hostage release deal with Israel in Gaza. Haniyeh, based in Qatar, was in Tehran for the ­inauguration of new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Mr Pezeshkian on Monday met Russia’s National Security Council secretary Sergei Shoigu. Russia has “strongly condemned” the killing of Haniyeh.

Iran has promised to retaliate against Israel for the assassination, with the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warning that “blood vengeance” for the killing is “certain”.

But Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Nasser Kanaan, said Iran did not intend to spark a broader regional conflict in its planned reprisal against Israel.

“Tehran is not interested in ­escalating the regional conflicts, but it is necessary to punish” ­Israel, he said.

The leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, has said the killing of Hezbollah’s military chief Shukr meant that its conflict with Israel had entered a new phase and he threatened a major ­retaliation.

Hezbollah and Israel have launched almost daily tit-for-tat missile and drone strikes on each other in northern Israel and southern Lebanon since October 7, but both sides have avoided triggering an all-out conflict.