Israel and USA prepare for major attack by Iran

Alarm sirens are sounding in Israel, Hezbollah is firing rockets at the country. According to a media report, the Hamas leader was killed by a bomb. All developments in the news blog.

7.40 am: The Italian airline ITA is also suspending its flights to and from Tel Aviv. The airline says this is for the safety of its passengers and crew in light of the geopolitical developments in the Middle East. The flights will be suspended until August 6. Lufthansa had previously suspended its passenger and cargo flights to and from Israel’s most important and largest airport until August 8 and extended the suspension of its flights to and from the Lebanese capital Beirut until August 12.

7.09 am: US President Joe Biden has been critical of the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniya, which has been attributed to Israel. Biden told the press that this was not helpful in achieving a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. When asked whether the killing of Haniya had destroyed the chances of a ceasefire, Biden replied: “It doesn’t help.” He had previously had a direct conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the US President added at the Andrews military base in the US state of Maryland.

6.51 am: Israel and the US are bracing for retaliatory strikes from Iran and its allies following the killing of the political leader of the Islamist Hamas in Tehran. US President Joe Biden assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the phone of US support “against all threats from Iran”, including its terrorist proxy groups, i.e. Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, the White House said. Biden stressed the importance of efforts to de-escalate the region.

According to media reports, the army was put on high alert in anticipation of possible retaliatory strikes. Israel is in a state of maximum readiness, said Netanyahu. The US news portal “Axios” reported, citing three US officials, that the American government is convinced that Iran will attack Israel in the next few days.

4.35 am: The Australian government says an investigation into the deaths of World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers has uncovered serious errors by the Israeli army (IDF). The attacks by Israeli forces on volunteers’ vehicles in April this year were the result of serious failures in following procedures, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Friday.

In the incident, seven WCK employees were killed after an Israeli air strike in the center of the Gaza Strip. Among those killed were a Palestinian and people from Poland, Australia and Great Britain. The helpers were in two armored vehicles with the WCK logo and

0.01 am: The foreign chief of the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas, Ismail Haniya, who died in an attack in the Iranian capital Tehran on Wednesday, was apparently not killed by an air strike. As the “New York Times” reports, the influential terrorist leader is said to have died from a bomb that had been placed weeks earlier in a guest house of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. The newspaper reports this, citing several sources in Iran and in the US government.

The attack killed 62-year-old Haniya and one of his bodyguards. The Hamas leader was in Tehran to attend the inauguration of the newly elected Iranian President Massoud Peseschkian. The terrorist organization Hamas has excellent ties to the Mullah regime and is politically supported and financed by it. The declared goal of both Iran and Hamas is the destruction of Israel.

The Israeli secret service is suspected to be behind the targeted killing of Haniya. There has been no confirmation of this, and Israel has so far refused to comment on the assassination attempt on the Hamas leader.

Thursday, August 1, 2024

10.30 p.m.: In response to a suspected Israeli attack in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese Hezbollah says it fired dozens of rockets at Israel. The Israeli military said five rockets reached Israeli territory. Two were intercepted. The rest were intercepted in open areas.