Israel, “deadly and surprising response to Iran”. Where the retaliation will strike – Time

Benjamin Netanyahu on one side, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on the other. The long-awaited phone call between the Tel Aviv summit and the White House came as Israel expands operations in Lebanon and prepares its retaliation against Iran after last week’s missile attack. Fifty minutes to reconnect the threads of dialogue in the first telephone conversation between the two leaders in almost two months during which there was no shortage of tension and moments of frost. Harris also participated in the conversation in an ideal, at least so Biden hopes, relay in view of the presidential elections in November. At the center of the phone call, according to the Israeli media, was the crisis in Lebanon but, above all, the terms of the response: Iran. Netanyahu had already spoken about it in a brief meeting with Israeli security leaders in which – according to a Jewish State official – he would make key decisions. For now the focus would be on Iranian military structures but – the source specified – the situation could change. “The Iranian attack was aggressive but imprecise. Our attack, however, will be deadly, precise and above all surprising”, warned Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

While studying its retaliation against the Islamic Republic, Israel continues to strike in southern Lebanon with the aim of weakening Hezbollah, one of Tehran’s main allies in the region. The ground operation in the south of the ‘Land of Cedars’ has expanded in recent days with the dispatch of the first reservists. The Lebanese group reported opening fire on Israeli soldiers attempting to “infiltrate Lebanon” in Labouneh, launching a “large” barrage of rockets at an infantry unit, and using rockets and artillery against Israeli troops that they were “trying to advance on Mais al-Jabal, from different positions”. Hezbollah then rained down dozens of rockets against northern Israel: in Kiryat Shmona the attack caused two deaths, a man and a woman. The militants claimed responsibility, claiming they had targeted a “gathering of Israeli enemy forces” in the city. But according to the Israeli media, the victims were two civilians who were walking with their dogs. In Haifa, five people were injured by the shrapnel released by the explosions, while around 90 rockets were launched against the Upper Galilee, causing damage and fires.

The IDF, for its part, continues to pound southern Lebanon with air raids; one of these – explained the Beirut Ministry of Health – hit a hotel transformed into a shelter for displaced people in Wardaniyeh, killing four people. But the intensification of operations in Lebanon, according to Moscow, is not achieving the results hoped for by Israel. “According to our estimates, the Shiite Hezbollah party, including its military wing, has not lost control and also shows organization,” noted Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. Then there is the southern front of the war: the IDF has strengthened its offensive in northern Gaza where, according to UNRWA, “at least 400 thousand people are trapped”. And where the Israeli hostages still in the hands of Hamas would also be found. The possibility of endangering the abductees prompted 130 IDF soldiers to threaten to no longer fight in the enclave. “Continuing the war in Gaza not only delays the return of the hostages, but also endangers their lives,” they said in a letter to Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. “If the government does not immediately change course and work to reach an agreement to bring the hostages home, we will not be able to continue serving,” they warned.