Tel Aviv, Israel:
Israel was on alert Thursday after its arch-enemy Iran threatened reprisals over an attack in Syria this month that killed two Iranian generals and as the war against Hamas in Gaza continued.
Days after Israel strengthened its air defenses and halted furloughs for combat units, the United States also warned of the risk of an attack by Iran or its allied groups, at a time when tensions have soared in the Middle East.
Iran is “threatening a significant attack on Israel,” US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday, pledging “ironclad” support for its regional ally despite diplomatic tensions over Israel's military action in Gaza.
Israel was widely blamed for an April 1 attack that destroyed the Iranian consulate building in Damascus and killed seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), including two generals.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned on Wednesday that Israel “must be punished and will be punished,” days after one of his advisers said Israeli embassies are “no longer safe.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz quickly replied to Khamenei on social media site X that “if Iran attacks from its territory, Israel will respond and attack Iran.”
Biden said he told Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu that “our commitment to Israel's security against these threats from Iran and its allies is ironclad.”
“Let me say it again: rock solid. We are going to do everything we can to protect Israel's security.”
The Axios news site reported that US Central Command chief Michael Kurilla would visit Israel to discuss the situation with Defense Secretary Yoav Gallant.
Moscow called on both Iran and Israel to exercise restraint, after previously warning Russian citizens not to travel to Israel, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.
“It is very important for everyone to exercise restraint so as not to destabilize the region, which already lacks stability or predictability,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
German airline Lufthansa said it has suspended flights to and from Tehran, probably until Thursday, “due to the current situation in the Middle East.”
Israel and the United States have long been pitted against Iran and the so-called “Axis of Resistance” coalition of groups in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
The attack in Syria killed Iranian IRGC Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, who led the Quds Force's foreign operations in Syria and Lebanon.
'Panic among children'
Regional tensions have been fueled by the Gaza war that broke out after Hamas launched its attack on Israel on October 7, killing 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures.
The Palestinian group Hamas also took about 250 hostages, 129 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 who the Israeli army says are dead.
Iran has said it had no prior knowledge of the Oct. 7 attack but has welcomed the attack on its decades-old enemy.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 33,545 people, mostly women and children, according to Israel's Health Ministry.
The Israeli military reported night operations in central Gaza, also involving the navy and air force “to eliminate terrorist operatives.”
In Gaza's Nuseirat area, 39-year-old Imad Abu Shawish said: “The situation is dire and getting worse, the bombings have not stopped and are still taking place.
“We hear the sounds of rockets landing close to us before exploding, causing panic among my children and other relatives.”
Much of Palestinian territory has been reduced to a bomb-ridden wasteland of destroyed buildings, while more bodies are feared buried beneath mountains of rubble.
An Israeli siege has deprived Gaza's 2.4 million residents of most food, water, fuel and medicine; the severe shortages are only alleviated by sporadic aid deliveries.
Israeli War Cabinet member Benny Gantz said Wednesday that “Hamas has been militarily defeated” but vowed to continue fighting “what remains of it” in the coming years.
An Israeli airstrike killed three sons of Qatar-based Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday.
Haniyeh's brother Nahed told AFP in Gaza that their family is “in the same situation” as other Gaza residents.
“There is no difference between the sons of leaders and the sons of the people,” he said.
Haniyeh stressed that the death of his sons would not affect Hamas' position in the ongoing talks in Cairo on a possible temporary ceasefire and the release of hostages.
These talks, which began on Sunday, failed to produce a breakthrough in a plan presented by American, Qatari and Egyptian mediators, which Hamas said it was studying.
A framework plan would halt fighting for six weeks and allow the exchange of about 40 hostages for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, as well as increased aid deliveries.
Biden said that “it is now up to Hamas, they have to move forward with the proposal that has been made.”
'Destabilizing Middle East'
Washington has also increased pressure on Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire, increase aid flows and abandon plans to invade the southern city of Rafah.
About 1.5 million civilians are sheltering in Rafah, the last city in Gaza that has not yet suffered a ground attack.
Biden labeled Netanyahu's handling of the war a “mistake” in an interview broadcast on Tuesday.
Gallant promised that Israel would “flood Gaza with aid,” using an Israeli border crossing, streamlined controls and two new routes organized with Jordan.
He said they expected 500 aid trucks to enter Gaza per day, the average level before the war.
Israel has faced a chorus of international criticism over its handling of the war.
Spain is among a number of Western countries, including Ireland and Australia, that have suggested they would recognize a Palestinian state in the near future as a starting point for wider peace talks.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez warned that Israel's “disproportionate response” in Gaza risks “destabilizing the Middle East and, as a result, the entire world.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Our staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)