Iran might attack Israel as early as Monday: US

Middle East: Iran and Hezbollah might initiate an attack on Israel as early as Monday, the United States warned the G7 countries. However, Israel might carry out a preemptive strike on Iran to prevent the attack, NDTV reported, citing Axios and Times of Israel reports.

According to Times of Israel, Israel intelligence agencies Mossad and Shin Bet met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as Defence Minister Yoav Galland and IDF Chief of Staff Hezi Halevi in a meeting chaired by Netanyahu.

On Saturday, Iran announced that Hezbollah will carry out attacks into deeper Israel. The Iran-armed and funded Lebanese militant group, established in the 1980s with Iranian support, Hezbollah will be targeting more than just military installations, Iran had said.

The recent rapid escalation between Hezbollah and Israel was after the latter killed the former’s military commander, Fuad Shukr, in an attack on south Beirut that also killed five more civilians. Following this, Hamas’s political bureau chief, Ismail Haniyeh, was also killed, worsening the situation in the region. When Haniyeh’s killing is attributed to Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu's administration is yet to confirm their involvement.

It was in the summer of 2006 that Israel and Hezbollah went into a fully-fledged war. The deadly war witnessed Lebanon’s only passenger airport being bombed in Beirut.

This, reading the rapidly escalating tensions between Hezbollah and Israel, various embassies, including India’s, urged citizens to leave Lebanon.

Since Hamas triggered the deadly war in Gaza on October 7th last year, Hezbollah also kept a daily exchange of fire with Israeli forces, targeting military positions, NDTV reports.