Middle East on brink, Israel prepares for ‘other fronts’ amid Iran threat

The threat of war looms large in the Middle East as Israel said it was preparing for “scenarios in other areas” amid its ongoing military operation in Gaza.

This comes amid concerns that Iran was preparing to strike the country in retaliation for airstrikes on its consulate in Syria on April 1. The strike, which killed a top Iranian general and six other military officers, prompted Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to say that an attack on Israel was “inevitable”.

Israel, which launched a war in the Gaza Strip six months ago against Iran-backed Hamas, has not confirmed it was behind the strike on Damascus, but the Pentagon has said it was. On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country is continuing its war in Gaza but is also preparing for scenarios in other areas, amid concern that Iran was preparing to strike Israel.

“We are preparing to meet the security needs of the state of Israel both in defence and attack,” he said. Germany’s Lufthansa airline said it had suspended flights to and from Tehran until probably April 13. A spokesperson for the airline said it had decided not to operate a flight from Frankfurt to Tehran last weekend to avoid the crew having to disembark to spend the night in Tehran.

Besides Lufthansa, its subsidiary Austrian Airlines also said it was still planning to fly to Tehran on Thursday but was adjusting timings to avoid crew having to disembark for an overnight layover. Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock discussed the tense situation in the Middle East with her Iranian counterpart and urged all sides to act responsibly and exercise restraint.

“No one can have an interest in a wider regional escalation,” the ministry posted on social media platform X. Russia’s foreign ministry told citizens they should not travel to the Middle East, especially to Israel, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.

Moscow also urged countries in the Middle East to show restraint. “Right now it’s very important for everyone to maintain restraint so as not to lead to a complete destabilisation of the situation in the region, which doesn’t exactly shine with stability and predictability,” Reuters quoted Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov as saying.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi also condemned the killing of the three sons of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in airstrikes by Israel in Gaza City. “Undoubtedly, this crime made clearer the savage and child-killing psyche of this regime,” Tehran Times quoted Raisi as saying.

Iran supports anti-Israeli militant organisations like Palestinian group Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah. The US believes that a major Iranian attack on Israel is imminent and it is a “matter of when, not if”, a Bloomberg report said quoting top officials. The report further said the attack could take place in the coming days.

According to an Axios report, General Michael Kurilla, head of the US Central Command, is expected to visit Tel Aviv on Thursday for consultations with Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. He is likely to discuss the impending threat of an Iranian attack, the report states.

On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden reiterated America’s “ironclad” support to Israel amid Iranian threat. “Our commitment to Israel’s security against these threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad,” he said after a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday. “Let me say it again: ironclad.”

According to a CNN report, Iran is unlikely to attack Israel directly and could use its proxies, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthis in Yemen, to launch strikes. Meanwhile, Israel said 13 hostages, who freed from Hamas captivity after in Gaza after 40 days, are back in their territory.