Iran preparing to launch ballistic missile attack on Israel: US official

The United States has indications Iran is preparing to imminently launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel, according to a White House official.

Several news agencies reported that US is also supporting defensive preparations to defend Israel against this attack.

An Israeli military spokesman said it had not yet identified an aerial threat from Iran. Israel’s aerial defence systems are fully prepared, the spokesman said.

He added that any Iranian attack on Israel would have repercussions.

Israel earlier said that its commando and paratroop units launched raids into Lebanon on Tuesday as part of a “limited” ground incursion, while Iran-backed Hezbollah said it had fired a barrage of missiles into Israel, including at its spy agency near Tel Aviv.

The raids by Israeli troops in southern Lebanon that began overnight were limited and went only a short distance over the border, an Israeli security official said on Tuesday, adding that no direct clashes with Hezbollah fighters were reported.

Israeli forces have been carrying out raids into southern Lebanon for months, uncovering Hezbollah tunnels and weapons caches under homes and invasion plans by the group, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Tuesday, adding the details were being declassified.

The findings and evidence discovered during the raids will be presented to the international community, Hagari said. He presented videos from soldiers’ body-cameras and maps.
Hezbollah has not commented on his claims.

A Hezbollah spokesperson told Reuters on Tuesday that the Israeli military had not entered Lebanese territory but that Hezbollah would be ready to fight them in direct clashes if they did.

Two Lebanese security sources told Reuters that Israeli units had crossed into Lebanon overnight for reconnaissance and probing operations.

Hezbollah said in a statement on Tuesday that it had fired the “Fadi 4” at military positions in the suburbs of Tel Aviv, Israel’s commercial capital. It is the fourth iteration of a series which have progressively bigger payloads and longer ranges that Hezbollah has begun to use in recent weeks.

The group also said it fired missiles at the headquarters of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, blamed for assassinations of Hezbollah commanders and leaders, and at a military intelligence unit on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

Israel’s ambulance service said two people had been wounded by shrapnel from the barrage of missiles. Traffic was also affected by part of a missile that fell onto a highway near the town of Kfar Qasim east of Tel Aviv.

Lebanon is facing one of the most dangerous stages in its history, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Tuesday during a meeting with UN organisations and ambassadors of donor countries, in which they made a joint appeal for more than $400 million in aid to cope with surging hostilities.

EXPANDING STRIKES

Iran’s allies — from Hezbollah to Yemen’s Houthis to armed groups in Iraq — have weighed in with attacks in the region in support of Hamas in the Gaza war, raising fears the conflict will suck in the United States and Tehran.

Yemen’s Houthi movement launched drone attacks at Israeli military posts in Tel Aviv and Eilat on Tuesday, the group’s military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a televised speech.

In Syria, three civilians were killed and nine others injured in an Israeli airstrike on the capital Damascus, Syrian state media said, citing a military source. Israel’s military said it does not comment on foreign media reports.

Oil prices also turned positive on Tuesday, jumping about 3%, following reports Iran was preparing to launch a missile attack on Israel.

Brent futures were up $2.04, or 2.9%, to $73.74 a barrel by 9:58 a.m. EDT (1358 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $2.11, or 3.1%, to $70.28.