Israeli and American officials believe Iran is hours away from following through on its threat: to retaliate for an airstrike on a building adjacent to its embassy in Damascus, Syria, with an offensive on Israeli soil. Tehran is accusing Jerusalem for the deaths of several officers, but Israel has not acknowledged responsibility.
Although the allies have been on high alert for two weeks, intelligence sources cited by The Wall Street Journal reduce the window to between 24 and 48 hours. That is, this Friday or Saturday. Another source cited by the media, knowledgeable according to the Iranian leadership's plans, assures that although plans to attack Israel are being considered, no decision has yet been made.
In that sense, the United States restricted the movement of its diplomatic personnel in Israel in recent hours. "Out of an abundance of caution, U.S. government employees and their family members are restricted from personal travel," the embassy published this Thursday in a statement which also explained:
The security environment remains complex and can change quickly depending on the political situation and recent events.
Hours earlier, the commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), General Erik Kurilla, landed in Israel to meet with senior military and defense commanders. The objective, as it turned out, is to coordinate a joint response if Tehran carries out its threat. "We are ready for attack and defense using a variety of capabilities that the IDF has," said military spokesman Daniel Hagari in words reported by The Times of Israel. Hagari also assured that they had the assistance of their "strategic partners," referring to Kurilla.
Also on Thursday, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III assured his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallan, that he had the "full U.S. support to defend Israel against Iranian attacks." Echoing President Biden's words during the week, he described this support as "ironclad."
