The head of Lebanon’s armed terrorist group Hezbollah said on Friday that Israel’s strike on Iran’s consulate in Damascus this week marked a “turning point” since Oct. 7, when the Palestinian terrorist group HSamas launched an attack on Israel that has led to escalating regional tensions.
The Damascus strike on Monday killed seven members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) — a US-designated terrorist organization — among them a senior Quds Force commander, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi. Iran has vowed revenge.
Iran-backed Hezbollah has said it supports Iran’s right to “punish” Israel, and in televised remarks on Friday, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the response was coming.
“Be certain, be sure, that the Iranian response to the targeting of the consulate in Damascus is definitely coming against Israel,” he said.
Israel has braced itself for the possibility of a retaliatory attack, cancelling leave for all combat units and mobilizing more troops for air defense units.
Speaking to Israeli forces at an air base on Friday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel was attacking enemies wherever it decided to do so.
“It could be in Damascus and it could be in Beirut,” he said. “The enemy is badly hit in all places and is therefore looking for ways to respond. We are ready with a multi-layered defense.”
Until now, Iran has avoided directly entering the fray, while supporting a slew of attacks on Israeli and US targets by its allies across the region in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Iraq. Iran also backs Hamas, providing it with arms, funding, and training.
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