Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel is on high alert and prepared for any scenario both defensively and offensively. "We will exact a very high price for any act of aggression against us from any front," he said.
His comments came a day after the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, which was attributed to Israel and after the targeted killing of Fuad Shukr, Hezbollah's military commander, in Beirut on Monday.
Netanyahu is expected to speak with U.S. President Joe Biden later while officials in the administration said they anticipate an Iranian attack on Israel.
"After we eliminated Hezbollah's military chief, we today received final confirmation that Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif was killed [in the strike on Khan Younis last month]. Deif was responsible for the terrible massacre of October 7 and many murderous attacks against Israeli citizens and was on our most wanted terrorists list for many years," Netanyahu said during a visit to the Home Front Command. "His elimination bolsters our principle that whoever harms us, will be harmed."
Some 28 Israeli factories at a distance of 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Lebanon border, were told to deplete their ammonia stores, in anticipation of rocket fire reaching further into Israel than in the past nearly 10 months of war.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said on Thursday during the funeral for Shukr that the conflict with Israel has entered a new phase and is open on all fronts. "Do the Israelis think that they can kill Haniyeh in Tehran and Iran will remain silent? Iran regards the killing as an attack on its sovereignty and national security. An affront to its honor," Nasrallah said. He then appealed to the Israeli public directly: "You will weep heavily because you do not know what red lines you have crossed."
Iranian leaders met with representatives of its proxies in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Lebanon in Tehran earlier to discuss their response to Haniyeh's assassination. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that Iran would respond to the attack by striking Israel directly.