Is Israel Preparing for a Preemptive Strike on Iran?

August 19, 2024

by: Joshua Spurlock

Monday, 19 August 2024 | Israel’s Air Force conducted a long-distance military aerial refueling exercise on Thursday, in a subtle warning to Iran as the Islamic Republic and its terror network continue to threaten Israel. In a not-so-subtle warning one day later, Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz called upon European allies to support Israel in the event of an Iranian attack by directly attacking Iran themselves.

Over the weekend, Iran’s primary ally and terror proxy Hezbollah threatened in a video to attack all of Israel—even to hit Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat—in the event of a full-blown war with the Jewish State. This comes as the threat of Hezbollah launching such a conflict still looms in the background.

In a post to X, Katz said in his Friday meeting with French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy that he “thanked them for their support of Israel and made it clear that the right way to deter Iran and prevent war is by announcing that if Iran attacks, they will stand with Israel not only in defense but also in striking targets in Iran. Iran is the head of the axis of evil, and the free world must stop it now before it’s too late.”

Séjourné and Lammy did not comment on Katz’s request in their own summaries of the meeting posted to their respective X feeds, nor in a joint op-ed published in the Guardian.

Katz’s strong words come as Iran and Hezbollah have threatened to escalate their attacks directly against Israel as revenge for the deaths of two high-ranking terrorists. Hezbollah chief-of-staff Fu’ad Shukr was assassinated by Israel on July 30. Less than 24 hours later, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Iran in an attack Tehran has blamed on Israel, but for which Israel has not claimed responsibility. This followed a Hezbollah missile attack that murdered a dozen Israeli children in Majdal Shams and is part of 11 months of regional conflict launched by another Iranian terror proxy—Hamas—in their terror massacre of around 1,200 Israelis on October 7.

With the threat of another massive Iran and Hezbollah attack in the background, the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] announced on X last week that they had completed Thursday’s aerial refueling exercise. “The exercise simulated long-range flight deep behind enemy lines, performing aerial refueling in short periods of time. Aerial refueling is an operational capability required by the combat force, enabling it to remain airborne for long periods of time.”

Among the aircraft involved in the exercise were Israeli F-15 and F-35 fighter jets. While the post did not indicate the exercise was specifically aimed at preparing to attack Iran, the long-distance nature of such an attack implies Iran was likely in mind during the drill.

Also last week, Hezbollah posted a propaganda video showing a massive underground tunnel large enough for trucks to transport missiles inside and complete with missile launchpad capability. The video, which was reposted with an English translation by the Hezbollah-friendly Al Mayadeen news group’s X feed, showed Hezbollah threatening they had “precision” missiles “along with weapons capabilities so that if Israel imposes a war on Lebanon, Israel will face a destiny and reality it didn’t expect any day.”

Of note, the narration appears to ignore that it is Hezbollah’s threats of retaliation for Shukr that has the region teetering on the brink of full war.

The video concludes with a threat to strike all of Israel, while calling it “Palestine”, and referencing Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat, noting “war with us extends across all of Palestine, from the Lebanese border to the Jordanian border, to the Red Sea, from Kiryat Shmona to Eilat.”

In response to the video, the official Israel X feed said, “Since October 7, Hezbollah has fired more than 7,000 rockets, using the people of Lebanon as human shields. Hezbollah must be eliminated—for the safety of Israelis, the people of Lebanon, and the entire region.”

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again reminded all of Israel’s enemies what the consequences of an attack would be.

“Israel is prepared for any threat—both defensively and offensively,” said Netanyahu in comments published and translated from Hebrew by Israel. “We are determined to defend ourselves and to exact a very high price from any enemy who dares to attack us—from any arena whatsoever.”

Posted on August 19, 2024

Source: (This article was originally published by the Mideast Update on August 18, 2024. Time-related language has been modified to reflect our republication today.)

Photo Credit: William Lewis/Wikimedia.org

Photo License: Wikimedia