Israel, US Brace for Iranian Response to Killing of Hamas Leader

U.S. President Joe Biden (L) listens on as Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reads a statement before their meeting in Tel Aviv on Oct. 18, 2023. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Israel and the United States are on high alert this week as Iranian officials continue to vow revenge for a July 31 blast that killed Ismail Haniyeh, the political chairman of Hamas—a U.S. and Israeli-designated terrorist group.

While the Israeli government has not acknowledged responsibility for the explosion in Tehran, officials from Iran and Hamas were quick to point to the United States and Israeli governments.

Within hours of the blast, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei declared that Iran is duty-bound to avenge Haniyeh’s death.

Newly inaugurated Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also said that Israel would “soon see the results of its cowardly terrorist act.”

Gen. Hossein Salami, the head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, continued the line of retaliatory rhetoric on Aug. 5, stating the Israelis will come to learn “they have committed another miscalculation” as they endure a “strong response.”

Meanwhile, Israel continues to contend with lower-level skirmishes in its north and south.

Hezbollah—another U.S. and Israeli-designated terrorist group with ties to Iran—claimed responsibility for a drone attack on a military outpost in northern Israel on Aug. 6. 

Israeli forces have been trading fire with Hezbollah across the Israel–Lebanon border since October 2023, after Hamas carried out an attack across southern Israel that killed more than 1,200 Israelis; more than 250 others were taken as hostages to Gaza.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported several Israeli citizens were injured during a series of drone attacks near the northern coastal city of Nahariya on Aug. 6. It subsequently said the injuries may have resulted from a misfired air defense missile, but said the matter remains under investigation.

The U.S. Department of Defense confirmed to The Epoch Times that several U.S. personnel were injured in another rocket attack at the Al-Asad Airbase in western Iraq on Aug. 5. A spokesperson for the department said that it is continuing to assess the damage. It remains unclear who was behind the attack.

The IDF has continued to target Hamas and Hezbollah commanders, while bracing for a potential broader Iranian retaliation.

The Israeli military said it targeted and eliminated Hamas commander Jaber Aziz, in Gaza City on Aug. 5 and Hamas smuggling suspect Muhammad Mahasana later that same evening. It also reported targeting and killing another Hezbollah commander, Ali Jamal Aldin Jawad, in a strike in southern Lebanon later that same day.

Israeli forces reported two more strikes targeting suspected Hezbollah positions near the southern Lebanese communities of Nabatieh and Khyam on Aug. 6.

Meanwhile, IDF aircraft launched two separate strikes targeting “armed terrorist squads” in Jenin, in the West Bank, on Aug. 6.

Gazans look at debris following an Israeli military strike near the city of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on July 13, 2024. Bashar Taleb/AFP via Getty Images

Over the weekend, the Yemen-based Houthis claimed to have shot down a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone they said was carrying out “hostile acts” over the northwestern Yemeni region of Saada.

A U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) official told The Epoch Times it was aware of the reports and was looking into the claims, but provided no further details by publication time.

The Houthis also claimed a missile attack on the MV Groton, a Liberian-flagged container ship, as it transited the Gulf of Aden.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) center, an office organized by the UK Royal Navy, also reported an attack on the Groton on Aug. 3, stating the vessel was struck by a missile but had not reported any crew injuries or serious damage to the ship.

UKMTO said the Groton was proceeding to its next port of call.

The Houthis—another U.S. and Israeli-designated terrorist group with ties to Iran—have launched several drone and missile attacks at Israel since October 2023 and have continued to harass international shipping through the Red Sea.

CENTCOM said it intercepted four Houthi drones and a Houthi anti-ship ballistic missile over the Red Sea, and another Houthi unmanned surface vessel at sea on Aug. 5.

CENTCOM also said it destroyed another drone within a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen.

US Bolsters Middle East Air Defenses

Both U.S. and Israeli leaders have continued to ready their forces to respond to a heightened level of attacks across the Middle East.

“Israel is in a state of very high readiness for any scenario—on both defense and offense. We will exact a very high price for any act of aggression against us from any quarter whatsoever,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced in an Aug. 1 statement.

Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh also announced that additional U.S. missile defense capabilities were being deployed to the region on Aug. 2.

Singh said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had ordered additional ballistic missile defense-capable cruisers and destroyers to deploy to the CENTCOM area of operations, which covers Israel and the broader Middle East.

She said Austin also ordered another fighter squadron to the Middle East to bolster regional air defense capabilities and was readying to deploy additional land-based ballistic missile defense systems.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (L) and Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant give a joint news conference in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Dec. 18, 2023. Alberto Pizzaoli/AFP via Getty Images

Austin spoke by phone with his Israeli counterpart, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, on Aug. 4, and reiterated U.S. support for Israel’s defenses as it faces threats from Iran, as well as Hamas, and other designated terrorist groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi traveled to Tehran on Aug. 4 to speak with Pezeshkian and urge the Iranian president to avoid further escalations.

During their meeting, Pezeshkian continued to refer to the blast that killed Haniyeh as a “major mistake by the Zionist regime [Israel] that will not go unanswered.”