According to the latest assessment of the Israeli intelligence community, Iran has decided to attack Israel directly and may launch an attack in the next few days.
US news agency Axios quoted two sources with direct information on Sunday (August 11) saying that Iran is ready to attack Israel directly in retaliation for the assassination of Hamas Political Bureau leader Haniyeh in the Iranian capital Tehran, and it is likely to do so within a few days.
US Secretary of Defense Austin said in a phone call with Israeli Defense Minister Galant on the same day that he had ordered the US Ohio-class cruise missile nuclear submarine "Georgia" to be deployed to the Middle East to respond to the escalation of tensions in the region. Galant also told Austin in the call that Iran's military movements indicate that Iran is preparing for a large-scale attack on Israel.
Earlier, it was reported that Iran was considering canceling its plan to retaliate against Israel in exchange for a ceasefire in Gaza. However, Hamas announced last Sunday local time that it rejected the invitation of the United States, Qatar and Egypt to participate in the final round of negotiations on the Gaza hostage and ceasefire agreement scheduled for Thursday.
The Biden administration is also convinced that Iran will attack Israel in retaliation for the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran earlier this week, and U.S. officials said they expect any Iranian retaliation to use the same strategy as the April 13 attack on Israel - but it may be larger and may also involve Lebanon's Hezbollah.
A U.S. official said that the U.S. intelligence community began to receive clear signs of Iran's retaliation last Wednesday. Iran and its proxies may need several days to coordinate and prepare for the attack on Israel.
The Biden administration is concerned that mobilizing international and regional coalitions like those that defended Israel from Iranian attacks may be more difficult because the assassination of Haniyeh occurred against the backdrop of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, which has triggered strong anti-Israel sentiment throughout the region.
While the situation of Iran's attack is still unclear, the Lebanese-Israeli border has begun to exchange fire!
On the 12th local time, the Israeli army launched multiple rounds of attacks on several towns on the Lebanese side of the temporary border between Lebanon and Israel that day, and the attacks caused fires.
The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health reported that three people were injured in the Israeli army's attack that day.
The Lebanese Hezbollah armed statement said that its armed personnel launched attacks on Israeli military bases, spy facilities and other targets. The Lebanese military issued a statement on the same day saying that it would continue to cooperate and coordinate with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon to prevent the situation from further deteriorating.
Due to concerns about the possible escalation of the situation in the Middle East, many airlines have canceled flights to and from Lebanon, which has a great impact on local passengers who want to travel by plane.
Local time on the 3rd, Air France-KLM Group announced that due to the tense regional security situation, the group's Air France and Transavia France branches will continue to suspend flights from Paris, France to Beirut, Lebanon until the 6th. The group will decide whether to resume flight operations based on the latest situation assessment, and passengers who have already booked flights can rebook for free. However, the two airlines' flights to Tel Aviv, Israel will continue to operate normally.
Earlier, Swiss Airlines, Lufthansa and other airlines announced on the 1st that they would suspend flights to and from Tel Aviv. Alitalia, KLM and Aegean Airlines of Greece announced on the 2nd that they would suspend flights to Israel. Two US airlines have also suspended flights to Tel Aviv.
