Israel's foreign minister, Israel Katz, issued a stern warning to Iran on Wednesday, stating that Israel would respond with direct attacks on Iranian targets if Iran launches an attack on Israel from within its territory. The warning comes amid escalating tensions between the two countries and the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Katz's threat was in response to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's promise of retaliation for an alleged Israeli airstrike that killed several top Iranian military officials in Syria last week. "If Iran attacks from its territory, Israel will react and attack in Iran," Katz posted on X in both Hebrew and Persian, tagging Khamenei's official account.
The exchange of threats between Israel and Iran highlights the risk of the current conflict in Gaza exploding into a regional war. While Iran has traditionally carried out attacks against Israel through proxy terrorist groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, a direct attack from Iranian territory would mark a significant escalation in the conflict.
The suspected Israeli warplanes bombed a building in the Syrian capital on April 1, which Iran claims killed seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) military advisers at a consular site, including Iran's top commander in Syria, Mohammad Reza Zahedi. Khamenei condemned the strike, stating that by attacking the consular building, Israel had run roughshod over international agreements providing for the inviolability of diplomatic premises.
"The consulate and embassy offices in any country are the territory of that country. When they attack the consulate, it is as if they attacked our territory," Khamenei said in a speech marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. "The evil regime made a mistake and must be punished and it shall be."
Despite the heightened tensions, unnamed US intelligence sources told CNN that Iran is unlikely to attack Israel directly out of fear of American and Israeli reprisal, and will instead urge its various proxies in the region to launch attacks on its behalf in the coming days.
An Iranian diplomatic source told the Lebanese Al-Akhbar outlet that Iran has proposed to the US that it will refrain from hitting back at Israel "for the time being" if there is a ceasefire in Gaza and Israel does not follow through on its promised offensive against the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The source also claimed that Iran and the US had exchanged messages following the Damascus strike via Oman, with Iran seeking conditions aimed at "limiting the expansion of the scope of the war in the region" and keeping the US out of the conflict.
Meanwhile, Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated that Israel was ready to respond to any attack by the Islamic Republic and had "completed preparations for a response against any scenario that would develop against Iran." The country has also strengthened its defenses and paused leave for combat units following Iran's retaliation threats.
The ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which erupted on October 7 when Hamas led a devastating cross-border attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and abducted 253 hostages, has drawn in Iran-backed groups from across the region. Hezbollah, the Iran-backed terror group in Lebanon, has been attacking along the border with Israel, and Iraqi groups have fired on US forces in Syria and Iraq.
The escalating violence has raised concerns about a potential full-scale war that would be devastating for both Israel and Lebanon. The United States, a staunch ally of Israel, has criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's current plans for the war in Gaza, with President Biden calling them a "mistake" in a recent interview.
