Iran prepares imminent missile attack on Israel, US warns, promises ‘serious consequences’

JERUSALEM (AP) — Iran is preparing to “imminently” launch a ballistic missile attack on Israel, according to a senior U.S. government official, who warned Tuesday of “serious consequences” if it takes place.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the intelligence, said the U.S. is actively supporting Israel’s defense preparations. This came after the Israeli military on Tuesday warned people to evacuate nearly two dozen Lebanese border communities, hours after it reportedly announced limited ground operations against Hezbollah.

White House officials did not initially provide evidence to support their intelligence findings. The official added that the administration was confident about the decision.

Iran’s state media has not indicated that an attack is imminent. Iranian officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Iran launched an unprecedented direct attack on Israel back in April, but few of the Iranian projectiles reached their targets. Many were shot down by a US-led coalition, while others apparently failed to take off or crashed in flight. Even those that reached Israel appeared to miss their target, experts and an AP analysis showed in September.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Tuesday that Israel faces “great challenges” in the fight against an Iranian axis. In the videotaped statement, he urged the public to listen to the Army Home Front Command’s security guidelines. He did not directly mention a missile threat.

Hezbollah denied that Israeli troops had entered Lebanon, but hours later the Israeli army announced that it had also carried out dozens of ground attacks in southern Lebanon for almost a year. Israel released video footage purporting to show its soldiers operating in houses and tunnels where Hezbollah stores weapons.

If true, it would be another humiliating blow to the Iran-backed Hezbollah, the most powerful armed group in the Middle East. Hezbollah suffered weeks of targeted attacks that killed its leader Hassan Nasrallah and several of his top commanders.

US ships and aircraft are already stationed in the region to support Israel in the event of an attack from Iran. There are three U.S. Navy destroyers in the Mediterranean, an aircraft carrier in the Gulf of Oman and fighter jets stationed throughout the region. All have the ability to shoot down incoming missiles.

Israel advised people to evacuate north of the Awali River, about 60 kilometers (36 miles) from the border and much further than the Litani River, which marks the northern edge of a United Nations-declared zone that serves as a buffer should between Israel and Hezbollah after their 2006 war.

“You must immediately go north of the Awali River to save yourself and leave your homes immediately,” said the Israeli military statement on Platform X. The warning was for communities south of the Litani.

The border region has largely emptied over the past year due to a firefight between the two sides. But the scope of the evacuation warning raises questions about the extent to which Israel plans to send its troops to Lebanon as it presses ahead with a rapidly escalating campaign against Hezbollah.

In anticipation of further Hezbollah rocket attacks, the Israeli army announced new restrictions on public gatherings and closed beaches in northern and central Israel. The military also said it had called up thousands more reserve soldiers for deployment on the northern border.

Questions have been raised about the entry of Israeli forces
An Associated Press reporter saw Israeli troops operating in armored trucks near the border and helicopters circling overhead, but could not confirm that ground troops had entered Lebanon.

Ahead of Israel’s announcement of an invasion, US officials said on Monday that Israel had described launching small ground attacks in Lebanon to prepare for a broader operation.

Neither the Lebanese army nor a UN peacekeeping force patrolling southern Lebanon have confirmed the entry of Israeli forces. The UN force said a cross-border operation would be a violation of Lebanese sovereignty.

Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif rejected what he said were “false claims” about an Israeli invasion. He said Hezbollah was ready for “a direct confrontation with hostile forces that dare or attempt to enter Lebanon.”

Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military’s top spokesman, claimed troops were carrying out “local ground attacks” on Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon to ensure Israeli citizens could return to their homes in the north.

“We’re not going to Beirut,” he said. “We are only going to areas near our border and will do whatever is necessary to dismantle and destroy Hezbollah’s infrastructure.”

He said Israel had carried out dozens of small raids in Lebanon since October 8, when Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel after the war broke out in Gaza.

He said Israeli forces crossed the border to gather intelligence and destroy Hezbollah’s infrastructure, including tunnels and weapons. Israel said Hezbollah was preparing its own October 7-style attack on Israel. It was not immediately possible to confirm these claims.

An Israeli military official said the troops that took part in the latest raid were within walking distance of the border and focused on villages hundreds of meters (yards) from Israel. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations, said there had been no clashes with Hezbollah fighters so far.

The Israeli military was accused of lying to the media in 2021 when it released a statement suggesting that ground troops had entered the Gaza Strip. The military played down the incident as a misunderstanding, but well-informed military commentators in Israel said it was part of a ruse to lure Hamas into the fight.

Israel attacks more targets and Hezbollah fires rockets
Israeli artillery units shelled targets in southern Lebanon overnight and airstrikes were heard across Beirut.

The Israeli military official said Hezbollah fired rockets into central Israel, setting off air raid sirens and wounding a man in his 50s. Hezbollah said it fired volleys of a new medium-range missile at the headquarters of two Israeli intelligence agencies near Tel Aviv.

Afif, the Hezbollah spokesman, said the rocket attack was “just the beginning.”

The Israeli military official said Hezbollah also fired projectiles at Israeli communities near the border, targeting soldiers without hurting anyone.

Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel shortly after Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel sparked the war in Gaza. Israel launched retaliatory air strikes and the conflict steadily escalated. In recent weeks, Israel has unleashed a devastating wave of air strikes on large parts of Lebanon.

Hagari said the U.N. Security Council resolution that ended the last war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006 had not been enforced and that southern Lebanon was “infested with Hezbollah terrorists and weapons.”

This resolution called for Hezbollah’s withdrawal from the area between the border and the Litani River and for the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers to patrol the area. Israel says these and other provisions were never enforced. Lebanon has long accused Israel of violating other provisions of the resolution.

Israeli official says there are no plans to march on Beirut
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Monday his country was ready to deploy the army to support the resolution if there was a ceasefire. Lebanese forces would be unable to impose a deal on the far more powerful Hezbollah.

The military statements suggested that Israel could focus its ground operations on the narrow strip along the border rather than launching a larger invasion aimed at destroying Hezbollah, as it attempted against Hamas in Gaza.

Hezbollah and Hamas are close allies backed by Iran, and each escalation over the past year has raised fears of a larger war in the Middle East that could attract Iran and the United States, which is rushing military assets to the region in support of Israel have sent.

Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon in the past two weeks, nearly a quarter of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes.

Hezbollah is a well-trained militia believed to have tens of thousands of fighters and an arsenal of 150,000 rockets and missiles. The last round of fighting in 2006 ended in a stalemate, and both sides have spent the last two decades preparing for their next showdown.

Recent airstrikes that wiped out much of Hezbollah’s leadership and the explosions of hundreds of Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies suggest that Israel has penetrated deep into the group’s upper echelons.

Hezbollah vowed on Monday to continue fighting even after its recent losses. The group’s acting leader, Naim Kassem, said in a televised statement on Monday that Hezbollah commanders killed in recent weeks had already been replaced.

European countries have begun withdrawing their diplomats and citizens from Lebanon. A flight chartered by the British government was scheduled to leave Beirut on Wednesday to evacuate British nationals. The United Kingdom has also deployed 700 troops to a base in the nearby island nation of Cyprus to prepare for a possible evacuation of the estimated 5,000 British citizens in Lebanon.