Israeli intelligence says Iran and Hezbollah are set to avenge the deaths of two of their leaders this week.
Ronen Bergman, a security expert with close ties to Israeli intellignce, told Sky News that the attack would come in two parts.
“It will come and it will come, they say, between today, Monday, and the end of this week,” he said. “It will come in two parts. First, Hezbollah from the north and then Iran. It will be aiming at significant military targets.”
Meanwhile, Iran has rejected a call by three European countries demanding it refrain from any attacks that would further escalate regional tensions – and insisting retaliation against Israel “was its right”.
French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Prime Minister Keir Starmer issued a joint statement on Monday endorsing the latest push by mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States to broker an agreement to end the Israel-Hamas war.
The European leaders also called for the return of scores of hostages held by Hamas and the “unfettered” delivery of humanitarian aid and asked that Iran and its allies refrain from retaliation that would further escalate regional tensions after the late-July killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
Mediators have spent months trying to get the sides to agree to a three-phase plan in which Hamas would release the remaining hostages captured in its October 7 attack in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, and Israel would withdraw from Gaza. Talks were expected to resume Thursday.
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