IRAN is preparing to imminently launch a ballistic missile attack on Israel in the next few hours, it has been claimed.
A senior White House official said the US is actively supporting Israeli defensive preparations before warning of “severe consequences” if the attack were carried out.
Israeli soldiers have begun their ground offensive
A US official has warned of “severe consequences” if Iran launches a missile attack
Israeli tanks seen in southern Lebanon
The aftermath of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut
AFPBuildings turned into rubble in Beirut[/caption]
GettyThe warning comes after a series of airstrikes[/caption]
The US official said: “We are actively supporting defensive preparations to defend Israel against this attack.
“A direct military attack from Iran against Israel will carry severe consequences for Iran.”
And a senior Israeli official told Axios that the attack will be carried out in the next few hours, according to the latest intelligence.
The warning comes as Israel launched its ground offensive Operation “Northern Arrows” targeting Hezbollah strongholds following waves of devastating airstrikes.
Heavy fighting continued to rage in southern Lebanon today as 25,000 Israeli troops stepped up their ground war to smash Hezbollah rocket sites.
Israeli commanders said the invasion would be “limited, localised and targeted” and would not involve an occupation.
But clashes intensified through the night with Hezbollah launching rocket and artillery barrages toward Israeli troops massing on the border.
Terror troops responded to the onslaught by launching early hours rocket and artillery barrages against the border town of Metula inside Israel.
Hezbollah also said it targeted Mossad’s headquarters in Glilot near Tel Aviv.
It said it “launched salvoes of Fadi 4 rockets at the Glilot base of the military intelligence’s unit 8200 and the Mossad headquarters located on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.”
Defending Israel’s position, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called for continued operations to “crush the terrorist organization” to allow residents who have fled Northern Israel to return home safely.
He said: “The decisions we made in the last few days are important, correct and necessary.
“At the same time, this is the time not to stop, [we must] continue doing everything, with all our might.
“I pray for the success of the IDF soldiers who are currently fighting in difficult conditions in southern Lebanon; the people of Israel stand behind them.”
By dawn, loud booms could be heard across the frontier as an Israeli attack helicopter was seen launching rockets toward enemy positions.
Israel’s battle-hardened 98th Division were leading the onslaught after being moved north from fighting Hezbollah allies Hamas in Gaza.
The force – believed to number at least 25,000 – included crack paratroopers, commandos and engineers and were being guided by special forces teams who identified targets.
Israel will face up to 50,000 Hezbollah fighters and their network of terror tunnels as the terrorists are stacked up with guns, ammunition and thousands of rockets underground.
Commanders have ordered in a force around twice the size of the last Israeli invasion which withdrew after around a month in 2006.
The IDF said it would not allow another “October 7-style invasion” to happen accusing the terror group of planning to use villages near the border for an attack on Israeli homes.
IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said “Hezbollah turned Lebanese villages next to Israeli villages into military bases already for an attack on Israel.
“Hezbollah had planned “to invade Israel, attack Israeli communities and massacre innocent men, women and children. They called this plan, ‘Conquer the Galilee.’
“We will not let the 7th of October happen again on any one of our borders.”
His comment comes nearly a year after the bloody October 7 massacre when Hamas terrorists stormed the border between Gaza and Israel, slaughtering over 1,200 Israelis and kidnapping hundreds more.
An Israeli invasion will aim to push Hezbollah forces back across the Litani River running east to west above territory north of the frontier.
Hezbollah was supposed to have left the strip of land under the terms of a 2006 ceasefire deal but has continued to fire more than 9,000 rockets from bases in the area since October 7.
Troops were also understood to be working to clear and dismantle miles of Hezbollah tunnels close to the border.
Surviving Hezbollah chiefs – still reeling from the bunker bomb assassination of their leader Hassan Nasrallah five days ago – vowed to fight to the last man yesterday.
But in his first address since Nasrallah’ death, acting leader Naim Qassem appeared sweaty and uncomfortable as he signalled his badly wounded group’s defiance.
Qassem – one of the few Hezbollah chiefs still standing after at least 20 were taken out in recent days – dabbed his face with a handkerchief as he recorded his speech in a shuttered room.
Nasrallah’s deputy said: “We will face any possibility and we are ready if the Israelis decide to enter by land and the resistance forces are ready for a ground engagement.
“Despite the losses of its commanders, the attacks against civilians throughout Lebanon, and great sacrifices.
“We will not budge from our position. We will continue to support Gaza and to defend Lebanon.
Lebanese troops – whose forces operate independently of Iran-backed Hezbollah – pulled back to sidelines positions three miles from the border and did not take part in the fighting.
Lebanese media reported heavy shelling in the towns of Khiam and Wazzani, on the southern border with Israel.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller confirmed Israel informed American allies about the raids, which he said were as “limited operations focused on Hezbollah infrastructure near the border”.
But more clashes were also reported early today as Hezbollah fighters claimed to have repelled a push into orchards in Adaisseh and Kafr Kela near the southern frontier.
More battlefields were reported to have erupted around the southern communities of Blida and Ainata.
Fighting erupted in an 850 square km area which is home to an estimated 20,000 people, including refugees from the bloodbath civil war in Syria.
But thousands of Syrian refugees were said to be fleeing back home – fearing the Israeli onslaught will be even worse than the mayhem back home.
Israeli sources said the focus of the operation was on clearing out Hezbollah terror sites to halt rocket attacks which have driven 60,000 from homes in Northern Israel in the last 11 months.
Israeli diplomatic sources said yesterday that the military aim was to push terror group’s forces back beyond the Litani River, in line with a UN Security Council resolution.
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