Iran attack within 72 hours –

The United States has sent a guided-missile submarine to the Middle East, while an aircraft carrier that was already heading to the area will arrive more quickly. The BBC reports, quoting Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who explained that the decision is a response to fears of a wider regional conflict and demonstrates the United States’ determination to help Israel from any attack by Iran. The United States, Austin said, “will take every possible measure” to defend its ally. In a statement, the Pentagon said that the guided-missile submarine USS Georgia was sent to the region and that the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, which carries F-35C fighter jets, was ordered to speed up its journey to the area, where it was heading to replace another ship. The Roosevelt has also been patrolling the sector, in the Gulf of Oman, for days.

Tensions rise. Israel expects a full-scale attack by Iran and Hezbollah before the summit next Thursday called by the United States, Egypt and Qatar to reach a ceasefire in Gaza. According to Haaretz, security authorities are on high alert for a possible attack by Iran or Hezbollah, as Israel estimates that despite American efforts to hold a summit to continue negotiations for a deal on Thursday, Tehran’s response could come sooner. The security apparatus believes that Iran and Hezbollah do not want a wider war in the region, and Israel has said it will not tolerate harm to civilians, but there is much debate within the apparatus about different scenarios and responses, Haaretz writes. According to IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari, there are no changes in the Home Front Command’s guidelines and “the army’s forces are deployed and prepared, if the need arises to change the guidelines, we will update them.”

The news is confirmed by a report published by an Axios reporter, according to which during a telephone conversation between Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Gallant himself informed his U.S. counterpart that Iran’s military preparations suggest that Tehran is preparing for a large-scale attack on Israel. Austin, the Pentagon announced, has ordered the deployment of a missile submarine to the Middle East, amid rising tensions in the region and has also ordered the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to accelerate its deployment to the region.

During the night, about 30 rockets were launched by Hezbollah from southern Lebanon on Israeli territory, falling in open areas, the IDF reports, according to which no damage or injuries were reported. The attack was claimed by Hezbollah itself: “We bombed the headquarters of Brigade 146 in Gatton with rockets and Katyushas. The bombing was in response to attacks on villages in the south,” the pro-Iranian organization said. On the negotiations front, the new head of Hamas, Yahia Sinwar, is said to be ready for an agreement for a ceasefire and the release of hostages based on the plan presented by Joe Biden, several media report. However, Hamas has made it clear that it will not send direct mediators because it believes that the draft from which to start for an agreement is the one proposed by US President Joe Biden, approved by the UN and that there is no need for new negotiations.