The United States has indications that Iran is preparing to imminently launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel, a senior White House official said on Tuesday, hours after Israeli forces launched a rare ground invasion of southern Lebanon targeting the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah.
“We are actively supporting defensive preparations to defend Israel against this attack,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. “A direct military attack from Iran against Israel will carry severe consequences for Iran.”
The Israeli military’s chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said the United States had informed Israel that Iran was preparing to fire missiles immediately. The U.S. Embassy in Israel told its employees to return home and be prepared to enter bomb shelters, the first such order in months.
Earlier, the Israeli military sharply tightened restrictions on civilians in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on Tuesday, a sign that it was bracing for further reprisals from Hezbollah or Iran. The announcement of the restrictions, including new limits on gatherings in Israel’s urban core, arrived hours after the military confirmed that its forces had crossed into Lebanon in an operation aimed at Hezbollah targets in the rugged border region.
It said that one army division — which typically numbers more than 10,000 soldiers — was involved in conducting “limited, localized and targeted raids” along the border, although it was unclear how many of those troops were inside Lebanon.
That appeared to be a smaller force than the two divisions Israel sent into the Gaza Strip last October, but the number of troops deployed in northern Israel in recent days has fueled speculation that a broader operation could be coming. Three Israeli officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive military matter, said that parts of the invasion force could advance several miles beyond the border. On Tuesday, the Israeli military told Lebanese civilians in more than two dozen villages to move north of the Awali River, more than 15 miles from the Israeli border at its nearest point.
U.S. officials said on Monday that they believed Israel’s invasion would be limited and that Israel had assured them there was no plan for a bigger operation by conventional forces or a prolonged occupation of southern Lebanon. But several times during its nearly yearlong war in Gaza, Israel has played down the scale of its military actions only to see them grow into monthslong operations involving large numbers of troops — including in its initial ground invasion of Gaza, the push into the southern half of the strip and the incursion in Rafah.
Israel said its goal in the Lebanon operation was to eliminate Hezbollah infrastructure that posed an immediate threat to northern Israel so that civilians displaced by rocket fire there could return. The fighting has forced roughly 60,000 people in Israel and hundreds of thousands in Lebanon from their homes.
“We are actively supporting defensive preparations to defend Israel against this attack,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. “A direct military attack from Iran against Israel will carry severe consequences for Iran.”
The Israeli military’s chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said the United States had informed Israel that Iran was preparing to fire missiles immediately. The U.S. Embassy in Israel told its employees to return home and be prepared to enter bomb shelters, the first such order in months.
Earlier, the Israeli military sharply tightened restrictions on civilians in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on Tuesday, a sign that it was bracing for further reprisals from Hezbollah or Iran. The announcement of the restrictions, including new limits on gatherings in Israel’s urban core, arrived hours after the military confirmed that its forces had crossed into Lebanon in an operation aimed at Hezbollah targets in the rugged border region.
It said that one army division — which typically numbers more than 10,000 soldiers — was involved in conducting “limited, localized and targeted raids” along the border, although it was unclear how many of those troops were inside Lebanon.
That appeared to be a smaller force than the two divisions Israel sent into the Gaza Strip last October, but the number of troops deployed in northern Israel in recent days has fueled speculation that a broader operation could be coming. Three Israeli officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive military matter, said that parts of the invasion force could advance several miles beyond the border. On Tuesday, the Israeli military told Lebanese civilians in more than two dozen villages to move north of the Awali River, more than 15 miles from the Israeli border at its nearest point.
U.S. officials said on Monday that they believed Israel’s invasion would be limited and that Israel had assured them there was no plan for a bigger operation by conventional forces or a prolonged occupation of southern Lebanon. But several times during its nearly yearlong war in Gaza, Israel has played down the scale of its military actions only to see them grow into monthslong operations involving large numbers of troops — including in its initial ground invasion of Gaza, the push into the southern half of the strip and the incursion in Rafah.
Israel said its goal in the Lebanon operation was to eliminate Hezbollah infrastructure that posed an immediate threat to northern Israel so that civilians displaced by rocket fire there could return. The fighting has forced roughly 60,000 people in Israel and hundreds of thousands in Lebanon from their homes.
