More reservists are needed on the front line “to defend the State of Israel and ensure the security of its citizens,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement. Israel is calling up two additional brigades as the war in the Middle East expands at a rather rapid pace.
This mobilization comes just days after Iran attempted to attack Israel and a week after Israel pulled most of its ground forces out of the Palestinian enclave, in what the military leadership described as preparation for a mission in the city of Rafah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under pressure from his coalition partners to send ground troops into the city on the Egyptian border, where some 1.3 million Palestinians are estimated to be crammed, according to a report by RT. The US, a key supplier of military aid to Israel, has expressed concerns that an operation in Rafah would cause significant civilian casualties.
Israel has also vowed to “exact a price” for Iran’s retaliatory attack over the weekend. Ahead of a war cabinet meeting on Sunday, Israel’s centrist minister Benny Gantz vowed to “build a regional coalition and exact the price from Iran in the fashion and timing that is right for us.”
Iran has said the attack on Israel was in response to an Israeli strike on its embassy compound in Damascus, Syria earlier this month. The Islamic regime has accused Israel of the April 1 attack which killed seven Iranian military personnel, including senior commanders. -CNBC
“Right now, they certainly are seriously considering direct strikes on Iran, because that is a clearest path back to deterrence,” according to Ryan Bohl, senior Middle East and North Africa analyst at risk intelligence platform Rane Network. But Israel will need to strike a delicate balance, he noted, highlighting that “they don’t want an overt conflict with Iran.”
The less risky tactic is a “covert escalation,” where the Israelis will be “looking for ways where they can get their shadow war back into the shadows with greater intensity,” Bohl told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Monday.
This announcement on Sunday came after Western assistance helped Israeli forces repel a barrage of Iranian drones and missiles.
Iran Launched Over 200 Drones And Missiles At Israel
Tehran launched the attack in retaliation for an airstrike on its consulate in Damascus on April 1, which it blamed on Israel. The IDF claimed that together with its partners, it had stopped some 99% of Iranian projectiles.
Commenting on the Iranian attack, IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari stressed that the Israeli military “has not lost sight” of its goals in Gaza. “Hamas and Iran want to ignite the Middle East and escalate the region,” he claimed.
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