US reaffirms support for Israel ahead of Iranian strike

President Biden will meet with his national security team in the Situation Room on Monday, ahead of a planned Iranian attack on Israel.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, will also attend the meeting, the White House said.

The meeting came a day after Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III spoke Sunday with his counterpart in Israel to reiterate U.S. support for the Jewish state as tensions escalate with Iran and its proxies, threatening a broader regional war after 10 months of fighting against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.

Austin and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant discussed U.S. force posture measures the Defense Department is taking to strengthen the protection of U.S. forces in the region, support the defense of Israel, and deter and defuse broader tensions in the region, according to a Pentagon statement.

A map showing U.S. Navy assets stationed in the Middle East. (Fox News)

The meeting came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting Sunday that Israel was already in a “multi-front war” with Iran and its proxies.

Tensions in the region have reached a record high following the assassination last week of a senior Hezbollah official in Lebanon and the top political leader of Hamas in Iran. Iran and its allies blame Israel and threaten retaliation. Hamas said it has begun talks on choosing a new leader.

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Netanyahu said Israel was prepared to face any scenario. Jordan's foreign minister made a rare trip to Iran as part of diplomatic efforts. “We want the escalation to stop,” Ayman Safadi said.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Antony Blinken reportedly told his counterparts on Sunday that Iran and Hezbollah could attack Israel as early as Monday, according to Axios.

Smoke rises after a strike in an area of ​​Lebanon next to the Israeli-Lebanese border in the Galilee region, seen from the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, head of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), is expected to arrive in Israel on Monday to coordinate preparations for the planned attack, according to The Times of Israel.

A worker walks past debris as an excavator removes rubble from a building that was damaged by an Israeli airstrike Tuesday night in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon. (AP/Hussein Malla)

In Israel, some prepared bomb shelters and recalled Iran's unprecedented direct military attack in April, after a suspected Israeli strike killed two Iranian generals. Israel said nearly all of the drones and ballistic and cruise missiles were intercepted.

“For years, Iran has been arming and financing terrorist organizations throughout the Middle East, including by smuggling explosives into Israeli territory to carry out terrorist attacks against civilians,” IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a statement. “The IDF and the ISA have already foiled numerous attacks in which Claymore-type explosives were smuggled into the country. We are determined to continue to act against Iranian terrorism wherever it may be found.”

The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 hostages. Israel's brutal retaliation resulted in the deaths of nearly 40,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Heavy airstrikes and ground operations have caused massive destruction and displaced the vast majority of Gaza's 2.3 million people.

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Since the start of the war, fighting between Hezbollah and Israel has intensified along the Lebanese border. Hezbollah has said the exchanges of fire are aimed at relieving pressure on its Iranian-backed ally Hamas.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.