Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs a Cabinet meeting at Kirya, which houses the Israeli Ministry of Defense, in Tel Aviv, Israel on December 17, 2023.
Menahem Kahanna Reuters
TEL AVIV – Israel is preparing for a potential multiday attack by Iran and its ally Hezbollah after the killing of two senior militant leaders last week, an Israeli official told NBC News.
The official said Israel feared a wave of missiles and drones could be launched within days in response to the assassinations of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr.
“They will only try to destroy us,” the official said.
The tension marks another escalation in the Middle East in the 10-month Israel-Hamas war, which has been characterized by multiple stress points that have raised concerns that a regional conflict is on the horizon.
Israel killed Shukr in an attack on the southern outskirts of Beirut last Tuesday. The attack on the predominantly Shiite neighborhood also killed three civilians, including two children, and injured 74 others, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
The Israeli military blamed Shukr for an attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 children, saying there was no price too high for “the blood of our people.” Hezbollah denied responsibility for the attack.
A few hours later, news broke that Haniyeh had died in Tehran on Wednesday morning. Haniyeh is in Iran to attend the inauguration of Iran’s new President Masoud Pezeshkian.
President Joe Biden spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a day after Haniyeh’s killing. The president has said publicly that the killing is not helping US efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza. The call was “tense,” according to an Israeli official.
“There is strong US pressure to reach a ceasefire,” the official said. “Biden wants to happen during his term.”
Israeli negotiators were in Cairo on Friday to continue negotiations but left without a breakthrough, the official said.
Iranian officials have vowed to retaliate against Israel, although the country has not publicly claimed responsibility for Haniyeh’s murder. The Hezbollah leader also told his followers that Israel would be harmed by the attack.
When Iran attacked Israel on April 13 – in response to the bombing of the embassy in Damascus – it fired 300 ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones in tight volleys so that different projectiles would reach Israel at the same time. The majority were intercepted by Israeli and US forces, while Hezbollah largely stayed out of the fighting.
This time, Israeli officials said the attack could take place over several days, with Hezbollah attacking Israel from the north while Iranian long-range weapons fire from the east.
It would mark the second time Iran has launched a direct attack on Israel this year, a rare attack for a regime often believed to be acting through proxies in the region.
Diplomats have been working to avoid a wider regional war in the Middle East since the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack in which 1,200 were killed and 250 kidnapped. But these efforts have not stopped Hezbollah and the Houthis, two Iranian-backed militias, from escalating attacks against Israel in the group’s support for the Palestinian cause.
Meanwhile, the death toll in Gaza continues to rise, with the latest estimate from officials in the enclave nearly 40,000 dead.
Family members of hostages who remain in Gaza are calling on Netanyahu to reach a deal that would see their loved ones brought home. Several family members of the hostages were detained last month for protesting during the prime minister’s speech to Congress during his visit to the US
Raf Sanchez reports from Tel Aviv. Doha Madani reports from New York City.
