The United States sent its top Middle East military commander to Israel on Thursday after President Biden said that, despite recent friction, American support for Israel “is ironclad” in the event of an attack by Iran.
Iran’s leaders have repeatedly vowed to punish Israel for the April 1 strike in Syria that killed several senior Iranian commanders. Israel has put its military on alert and Mr Biden said on Wednesday that Iran was threatening a “significant” attack.
Gen. Michael E. Kurilla, the US commander, will coordinate with Israel on what is widely expected to be imminent retaliation from Iran and will also discuss the war against Hamas in Gaza and humanitarian operations there, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged Thursday that Israel was facing “difficult times,” noting that “in the midst of the war in Gaza” his country was “also prepared for scenarios involving challenges in other areas.”
“We have established a simple rule: Whoever hurts us, we will hurt him,” he said during a visit to an air base, using language used in recent days to refer to threats from Iran and its proxies, including Hamas.
Active fighting in Gaza has fallen to its lowest point since November. Israel withdrew troops from southern Gaza over the weekend, but said the army would remain in other parts of the territory to maintain its “freedom of action and ability to conduct precise operations based on intelligence.”
Mr Netanyahu said a date had been set for a ground invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza, where more than a million displaced Palestinians have sought refuge — an operation that US officials have warned would be disastrous for civilians. Some analysts have suggested his threats are extreme or attempts to gain leverage in the ceasefire negotiations.
The Biden administration urged Mr. Netanyahu to abandon invasion plans and focus on “alternative approaches that would target core elements of Hamas.”
President Biden has become increasingly critical of Mr Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza, even threatening to make US aid conditional on Israel doing more to protect civilians. But he stressed on Wednesday that US support for Israel in the face of the threat from Iran and its allied militias, such as Hezbollah, was unconditional.
“As I told Prime Minister Netanyahu, our commitment to Israel’s security against these threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad,” he told a news conference.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken “also made it clear that the U.S. will stand by Israel against any threats from Iran and its proxies” when he spoke by phone Wednesday with Israel’s defense minister, the State Department said.
In Israel, General Kurilla had conducted a situational assessment and discussed “regional security challenges” with the Israeli army’s chief of staff, said Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the chief spokesman for the Israeli military.
“We are very alert and ready to deal with various scenarios,” Admiral Haggari told a televised news briefing, adding that any strike from Iranian soil would be a clear regional escalation.
As Iran and Israel exchange fresh threats in recent days, diplomats are scrambling to ease tensions and avert a wider regional war.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock spoke with her Iranian counterpart “about the tense situation” in the Middle East on Thursday, according to her office.
“Avoiding further regional escalation must be in everyone’s interest,” her office said in a statement. “We urge all actors in the region to act responsibly and exercise maximum restraint.”
The diplomatic efforts came as the Israeli military announced Thursday that it had conducted a new operation that killed at least one member of Hamas in Gaza.
Israel’s military said Thursday that its forces carried out a “precise, intelligence-led operation” in central Gaza overnight with fighter jets and ground troops to “eliminate terrorists and strike terrorist infrastructure.”
“The goal of the operation, of course, is to destroy Hamas’ ability to reestablish itself in the region,” Vice Admiral Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesman, said in a briefing Thursday night. “We continue to fight in Gaza and prepare for future operations.”
On Wednesday, an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza killed three sons of Ismail Haniyeh, who leads Hamas’s political wing from exile. Hamas-linked media said three of Mr Haniyeh’s grandchildren were also killed in the attack.
The Israeli military said the three sons – Amir, Mohammad and Hazem – were active in Hamas military operations, Amir as a cell commander and his brothers as lower-level operatives. One of the brothers was also involved in taking hostages in Gaza, the Israeli military said, without specifying who. The military did not provide further details and its claims could not be verified.
The military’s emphasis on the precision of the strike announced on Thursday followed accusations that Israeli shelling was indiscriminate, causing avoidable civilian casualties and amid growing criticism of impending famine in Gaza.
It also came as international negotiators worked to broker a ceasefire in Gaza and secure the release of hostages held in the enclave in exchange for the release of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. Those talks have stalled over disagreements over details, with a senior Hamas official saying on Wednesday that the group did not have 40 living hostages eligible for exchange under a proposal under discussion.
While Mr. Haniyeh is one of Hamas’ most senior officials, analysts said his sons were likely not as integral to the group’s operations as the Israeli military had suggested.
“His son’s names don’t usually come up when you talk about seniority in Hamas, whether it’s the political wing or the military wing,” said Tahani Mustafa, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, a think tank.
Bilal Saab, a fellow in the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House, said the Sons strike may have been intended to appease domestic audiences in Israel or give the Israelis leverage in the talks.
“It’s a political victory for Israel more than anything else,” Mr. Saab said of the killings.
Mr. Haniyeh said on Wednesday that Israel was “delusional if it thinks that by killing my children, we will change our positions” in the negotiations.