Israel on alert for retaliation; Iran says Haniyeh killing was ‘big mistake’

JERUSALEM - Israel remains on high alert for a major retaliation promised by its adversaries after senior Hamas and Hezbollah officials were killed last week, with U.S. officials suggesting that the attack could be imminent.

The Biden administration informed U.S. lawmakers that Iran’s retaliatory strikes may happen as early as Monday or Tuesday, people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive security matter.

Information about the U.S. assessment follows a Sunday call between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the foreign ministers of the Group of Seven, in which Blinken discussed “the urgent need for de-escalation in the Middle East,” said the State Department.

Blinken discussed the U.S. anticipation of Iran’s retaliatory strikes during the call, Axios reported Sunday. The Group of Seven industrialized Western democracies include the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan.

The expected Iranian retaliation follows the assassinations of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and the Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut.

Diplomatic efforts continued over the weekend in an attempt to defuse regional tensions and avert an all-out war beyond the current conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, where more than 2 million Palestinians remain under Israeli siege and bombardment.

Israel and Hezbollah had exchanged fire overnight, with the Israel Defense Forces saying early Monday that “a suspicious aerial target that crossed from Lebanon” was intercepted in the air and that an explosive drone crossed into Israel from Lebanon and “fell in the area of Malkia,” in the northeast. The IDF said it struck infrastructure in Lebanon it said was used by Hezbollah, including to store weapons, and fired artillery toward Chebaa and Rachaya Al Foukhar in southern Lebanon. Later Monday, the Israeli military announced that its strikes on Lebanon had killed a Hezbollah commander, Ali Jamal Aldin Jawad.

[US and allies prepare to defend Israel as Netanyahu says it’s already in ‘multi-front war’ with Iran]

Hamas and Iran have blamed Israel for the Wednesday assassination of Haniyeh, Hamas’s top political leader, while an Israeli airstrike killed Hezbollah’s Shukr and five other people in Lebanon a day earlier. Israel has declined to comment on Haniyeh’s death.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani blamed Israel on Monday for the instability in the Middle East, saying that “Iran is not seeking to escalate tensions in the region.”

“If Iran uses its right to punish (Israel), it is to establish stability in the region,” he said in a news conference.

But in a sign of the rising fears, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi paid a rare visit to Tehran, delivering a message from Jordan’s King Abdullah II about the “dangerous escalation” taking place in the region. Jordan is a close Western ally and helped intercept Iranian weapons fired toward Israel in April.

Safadi met with newly elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday. According to state media, the Iranian president said during the talks that the assassination of Haniyeh was a “big mistake” and “will not go unanswered.”

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, an intergovernmental body made up of 57 nations, announced that it would hold a special meeting of foreign ministers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday to discuss the war in Gaza, the killing of Haniyeh and Israel’s “aggressions against the sovereignty” of Iran.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a meeting of his security cabinet Sunday to discuss preparations for any counterstrike. In a statement released by his office, Netanyahu said Israel is “determined to stand” against Iran and its proxies “on every front and in every arena - near and far.”

Two American destroyers shifted into the Red Sea on Monday, a defense official said, as the Pentagon continues to reposition military forces closer to Israel as Iran threatens to attack in coming days.

The USS Laboon and the USS Cole shifted west from the Gulf of Oman, after leaving the Persian Gulf last week. They are part of a fleet of 12 U.S. warships that are either in the Middle East or Mediterranean Sea at the moment. Among those vessels are the USS Theodore Roosevelt, an aircraft carrier that appears to be moving toward Israel as well.

It was in the Persian Gulf last week and remained in the Gulf of Oman as of Monday, the defense official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss military movements.

Separately, at least 30 Palestinians were killed Sunday in strikes on two schools in Gaza City, where thousands of displaced people were sheltering, a spokesperson for Gaza’s Civil Defense said.

An eyewitness to the aftermath, Osama Labad, 35, said by phone that women and children were among the dead and injured. The Israel Defense Forces said the strikes targeted Hamas militants using the schools as “command and control centers.”

Also Sunday, two people were killed in a stabbing attack by a Palestinian in a Tel Aviv suburb, according to Israeli authorities.

Here’s what else to know

- President Biden will convene his national security team Monday to discuss Middle East developments, according to the White House. He also spoke with King Abdullah of Jordan on Monday; Abdullah told Biden that a cease-fire in Gaza was a crucial first step to “safeguard regional security and prevent further war and conflict,” according to a Jordanian readout of the call.

- Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox and Haredi Jews clashed with police during a protest against military conscription Monday as the first round of previously exempted religious Jews were summoned for military service. In June, Israel’s high court ruled that they were eligible for conscription after a long-standing law excusing them expired, but many ultra-Orthodox leaders have called on their communities to refuse to serve in the military as they say it is a threat to their highly insular and religious way of life. The issue has threatened the political future of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who needs the support of the religious parties to maintain his ruling coalition.

- At least 39,623 people have been killed and 91,469 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority of the dead are women and children. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, including more than 300 soldiers, and says 329 soldiers have been killed since the launch of its military operation in Gaza.

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Pannet reported from Wellington, New Zealand, and Timsit reported from Paris. Susannah George in Beirut contributed to this report.