The war cabinet held a virtual meeting late on Wednesday, to discuss the increasing, immediate threats to security in the wake of the killing of senior members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps in Syria in a strike attributed to Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who was recovering from his recent surgery at home, also held consultations with security officials over concerns of an imminent attack against Israel or Israeli targets both locally and abroad.
The IDF said it was calling up reserves to beef up aerial defenses and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant issued a strong warning to Hezbollah saying that a war would be a challenge for Israel but catastrophic for the Iranian proxy and for Lebanon.
Security forces were also concerned that violence might break out on Friday, the last in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan while Iranian leaders including President Ebrahim Raisi said revenge for the killing of Quds force commander Mohammad Reza Zahedi and others in Damascus was coming.
In a post in Hebrew on X, Iran's Supreme leader Ali Khamenei said the "Zionists" will regret their aggressive crime.
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Aftermath of a strike that killed a senior IRGC commander in Damascus, attributed to Israel
(Photo: Maher al Mounes / AFP)
Similar threats were made by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and by the Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al Houthi who said Jihad was the only way for Palestinians to get their rights and that was the path of the resistance.
In Iraq, Shi'ite militias also increased their threats against Israel and U.S. forces in the Middle East, the "Islamic Resistance in Iraq", which is made up of pro-Iranian militias operating in Iraq and Syria, had been launching attack drones at the southern city of Eilat, one hitting a military base there on Monday.