Middle East | Israel’s military monitors Iran, Hezbollah amid looming threats

Jerusalem: Israel’s military is monitoring Iran and Hezbollah “around the clock” for potential retaliatory strikes against Israel, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Daniel Hagari said.

“We are specifically monitoring what is happening with Iran, with all our capabilities,” Hagari told a news conference on Monday, adding that allied countries are helping Israel with the monitoring.

“We take the statements and declarations of our enemies seriously, and therefore, we are at the highest state of readiness in both offence and defence,” he said.

He noted that there has been no change to the safety guidelines for the public, reports Xinhua news agency, adding that the Israeli Home Front Command will, however, “immediately update the public” if any changes occur.

Israel is carrying out attacks in Lebanon “every day, including today,” he added.

The Middle East has seen heightened regional tensions lately as Iran and its allies vowed to retaliate for the killings of Hamas Politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah senior military commander Fouad Shokor in Beirut, which both occurred in late July.

Israel has claimed responsibility for Shokor’s killing but has not commented on Haniyeh’s assassination, which Hamas and Iran have blamed on Israel.

In mid-April, Iran launched hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones at Israel in retaliation for an attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria earlier in the month, which killed seven Iranians, including two military commanders. Israel reported intercepting the majority of the missiles and drones.