Biden expects an attack from Iran will happen sooner than later.
TEL AVIV - A major retaliatory attack by Iran on Israel could come as soon as Friday, according to an American media report, as the top United States general in the Mideast visited for talks with the defense brass on military readiness amid the Iranian threats.
Citing two unnamed US officials, CBS reported the attack could possibly include more than 100 drones and dozens of missiles aimed at military targets inside the country, the officials said, while warning Israel would be challenged to fend off an assault of that scale. The officials said it was possible Tehran may still opt for a smaller-magnitude strike in order to avoid a dramatic escalation.
Israel has been on high alert amid multiple threats and intelligence assessments that Iran would launch a strike on Israeli targets in a bid to avenge the April 1 airstrike on an Iranian consulate building in the Syrian capital of Damascus, which killed several Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders, including two generals.
Both Tehran and Damascus have blamed Israel for the strike and vowed revenge, although Jerusalem has not commented on the matter.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden expects an attack from Iran will happen “sooner than later,” he told reporters at the White House Friday.
“I don’t want to get into secure information but my expectation is sooner than later,” Biden said when asked how imminent an attack on Israel was.
Asked what his message to Tehran is right now, the president said “Don’t.”
In response to more shouted questions from reporters asking if American troops were at risk, Biden returned to the podium and said that the United States is “devoted” to the defense of Israel.
“We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” Biden said.
Around 40 rockets were fired from Lebanon on Friday evening, according to the Israeli military. Some were intercepted and the rest fell in open areas, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.
The IDF said there were no injuries.
Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah militants confirmed the rocket barrage, saying that they fired “dozens of Katyusha rockets” at Israeli artillery positions.
Hezbollah said it was in support of Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and in response to Israeli attacks on civilian homes in southern Lebanon.
Israeli air defenses also intercepted two explosive drones, which the IDF said were deployed by Hezbollah.
The IDF said it had struck several locations in Lebanon to “remove threats.”
Israeli forces surrounded and attacked the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza on Friday, wounding several journalists and at least one other person.
Turkish state broadcaster TRT accused Israeli tanks of launching a “targeted attack” on the journalists, including TRT Arabi cameraman Sami Shehada, who lost a leg, and correspondent Sami Barhoum, who suffered minor injuries. CNN stringer Mohammad Al-Sawalhi was also among those hurt.
The TRT statement called the assault “a deliberate attack against media professionals, marked clearly with ‘PRESS’ on their jackets” and said it was “part of a broader pattern of violence” against journalists in Gaza. As of Friday, at least 95 media workers have been killed covering the war, according to preliminary figures from the Committee to Protect Journalists.
CNN video shows Shehada’s right leg was severed.
“We were filming in a safe place, I was wearing my flak jacket and my helmet — even the car I was in had a ‘PRESS’ and ‘TV’ sign marked on it. It was clear that I was a civilian and a journalist. We were targeted,” he told CNN from his operating bed.
“It will not stop me from working, even if I have to walk on crutches. I will show the whole world the crimes of the Israeli occupation against civilians, people and journalists. I am one of them and I will not leave my camera even if I die,” he told Al-Sawalhi.
