Nearly four months after Iran fired an unprecedented missile toward Israel on April 13, Jerusalem and Washington are bracing for another weekend attack by Tehran and its allies in retaliation for the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh earlier this week.
The United States has already begun deploying additional warships US air and fighter jets are being deployed to the Middle East to protect American troops and defend Israel, a Wall Street Journal report said.
According to reports, the Joe Biden administration is confident that Iran is going to attack Israel this weekend itself. The US fears that this attack could be much more extensive and complex than the April 13 attack, which was carried out in retaliation for the airstrike in Syria that killed a top Iranian general.
Further complicating the situation, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has also vowed to respond to the Israeli airstrike in Beirut earlier this week that killed commander Fuad Shukr.
The attack in April was in retaliation for an Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus that killed seven people, including a top commander.
At that time, Israel received support from several Arab countries, including Jordan and Saudi Arabia, who helped shoot down Iranian and Houthi drones. They also allowed the US and Israel to use their airspace to intercept missiles.
However, this time around the US feels it may find it difficult to get the same level of cooperation as it relates to the killing of Haniya, which has been met with sharp condemnation across the Middle East region, according to a report by Axios.