Beirut– Iran and armed groups backed by it are preparing coordinated action meant to deter Israel but avert all-out war, sources and analysts said, after the killings of top Hamas and Hezbollah figures.
On Wednesday, Iranian officials met in Tehran with representatives of the so-called “Axis of Resistance” — a loose alliance of Tehran-backed groups hostile to Israel — to discuss retaliation for the deaths of Hamas’s leader and Hezbollah’s top military commander, said a source close to Lebanese group.
“Two scenarios were discussed: a simultaneous response from Iran and its allies or a staggered response from each party,” the source who had been briefed on the meeting told AFP, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatened a “harsh punishment” for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, which the group blamed on Israel, also vowing revenge.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned Thursday his group was bound to respond to Israel’s killing of top military commander Fuad Shukr, saying in a speech broadcast at the funeral that his death and that of Haniyeh “crossed” red lines.
Israel said it “eliminated” Shukr Tuesday in a strike on southern Beirut, describing him as Nasrallah’s “right-hand man.”
He led operations in south Lebanon, where the group has exchanged near-daily fire with Israel since the Gaza war erupted.
In Washington, DC, meanwhile, US President Joe Biden told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday (Friday Manila time) that Washington is committed to defending Israel’s security “against all threats from Iran,” the White House said.
Biden, joined on the call by Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, also emphasized the “ongoing efforts to de-escalate broader tensions in the region,” the White House said in a statement.
The call between the leaders also came after Israel announced it had “eliminated Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut.
Netanyahu’s government has not commented on the slaying of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, but the Palestinian militant group has blamed Israel.
Biden “reaffirmed his commitment to Israel’s security against all threats from Iran, including its proxy terrorist groups Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Huthis,” the White House said in a readout of the president’s call with Netanyahu.
“The president discussed efforts to support Israel’s defense against threats, including against ballistic missiles and drones, to include new defensive US military deployments,” it said.
Hamas, Hezbollah and Yemen’s Huthi rebels all receive backing from Iran.
Israel has been battling Hamas in the Gaza Strip since the group’s Oct. 7 attack that resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Militants also seized 251 hostages, 111 of whom are still held captive in Gaza, including 39 the military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign against Hamas has killed at least 39,480 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, which does not give details of civilian and militant deaths.
Israel has said the assassination of Shukr was a response to deadly rocket fire from the Lebanese group last week on the annexed Golan Heights.
Hezbollah has exchanged near-daily fire with Israel in south Lebanon since the Gaza war began. AFP
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