Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz threatened on Wednesday that his country’s forces would launch a direct strike against Iran if the Islamic Republic launched an attack from its territory against Israel, according to Arab media.
If Iran attacks from its territory, Israel will respond and attack in Iran.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant joined the warning on Wednesday, claiming that if Iran launched an attack from its territory, Israel would retaliate inside Iran.
Iranian officials said two Iranian generals and five officers were killed in an Israeli airstrike that destroyed Iran’s consulate in Syria on April 1. According to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the airstrike in Syria killed General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, head of the elite Quds Force in Lebanon and Syria until 2016. General Mohammad Hadi Hajriahimi and five other officers were also killed in the attack.
The Israeli warnings came after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed that Israel “must be punished and it shall be” for the alleged attack on the Iranian consulate building.
When they attacked our consulate area, it was like they attacked our territory. The evil regime must be punished, and it will be punished.
Tehran holds Israel responsible for the strike that destroyed the building, killing 12 people. Israel has not acknowledged its involvement, although it has been preparing for Iran’s response to the attack.
Israel has long been targeting numerous Iranian-linked sites in Syria to prevent arms shipments to Lebanese Hezbollah. Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza on October 7, there have been almost daily exchanges of fire between Israeli troops and Hezbollah on the Lebanon-Israel border.
Iran also supports the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip, which provoked the war by attacking southern Israel on October 7.
Neither Katz nor the Ayatollah have specified how they intend to retaliate. A number of Iranian officials have also vowed to avenge the strike in Damascus. Hezbollah also pledged to respond as one of its members had also been reportedly killed in the strike.
One of Khamenei’s senior advisers, Yahya Rahim Safavi, warned on Sunday that Israel’s embassies were “no longer safe.” On the same day, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant declared that Israel was prepared to respond to any attack by the Islamic Republic and “completed preparations for a response against any scenario that would develop against Iran.”
Last week, Israel stated that it was strengthening its defences and suspending the leave of combat units following threats of retaliation from Iran.
Iran accuses Israel of a wave of sabotage and assassinations against its nuclear programme. Tehran insists the programme is not designed to produce weapons. However, Israel, the US and Western allies argue that Iran is enriching uranium to a level of purity that has no civilian use, bringing it closer to a nuclear weapon.
Khamenei, for his part, criticised the West, especially the US and the UK, for supporting Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza.
It was expected they [would] prevent [Israel] in this disaster. They did not. They did not fulfil their duties, the Western governments.
The escalating fighting has raised concerns that it could turn into a full-scale war devastating to both Israel and Lebanon.
