ROME: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned that Iran and Hezbollah may attack Israel within the next 24 to 48 hours.
The unconfirmed report from US publication Axios was released on Monday, as fears grew of a regional war in the Middle East. Iran and Hezbollah have pledged to retaliate for the killing of the top leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah last week.
Quoting three unnamed sources, Axios reports that Blinken told G7 counterparts in a conference call that Iran and Hezbollah could launch an attack against Israel as early as Monday.
“The sources said Blinken stressed that the US believes Iran and Hezbollah will both retaliate,” Axios wrote, adding that Washington “doesn’t know the exact timing of the attacks” or what form they would take.
Blinken told his G7 counterpart that the United States hopes to halt the escalation by persuading Iran and Hezbollah to limit their attacks and restrain any Israeli response. He asked the other foreign ministers to join that push by applying diplomatic pressure on the trio.
The G7, which also includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom, issued a statement on Monday expressing “deep concern over the heightened level of tension in the Middle East”, and called for restraint on all sides, insisting that “no country or nation stands to gain from a further escalation”.
Immediately following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on July 31, the US sent additional military forces to the Middle East in anticipation of retaliatory attacks. It insists that the deployment is “defensive”.
US Central Command chief, General Michael Kurilla, is reportedly set to arrive in Israel on Monday to “finalise preparations” with the Israeli army “ahead of the possible attack”, Axios reports.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant issued a warning, saying: “If they dare to attack us, they will pay a heavy price.”
The nearly 10-month-old war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas has led to regular low-level hostilities between Israel and Iran and Hezbollah, as well as other groups in the region that are aligned with Tehran.
It is widely thought that neither side is ready for an all-out war, but the heightened tensions mean the risk of a conflagration is high.
The list of countries advising citizens to immediately leave Lebanon continued to grow on Monday, following warnings from the US and many European governments.
Japan, Saudi Arabia and France are among the latest to urge their citizens to leave the country while commercial flights are still operating.
“In a highly volatile security context”, the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs “urgently asked” its nationals to avoid travelling to Lebanon and suggested those already in the country leave “as soon as possible”.
