TEL AVIV, April 10. /TASS/. Jerusalem will retaliate if Tehran attacks it from Iranian territory, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said.
"If Iran attacks Israel from its territory, Israel will retaliate, as the country cannot afford to tolerate such attacks because of its responsibility to its citizens," Katz told the Kan radio station.
According to the top Israeli diplomat, "without [the support of] Iran there would be no [radical Palestinian movement] Hamas, no [Yemeni rebels] Houthis, [Lebanon’s Shiite movement] Hezbollah."
The Times of Israel reported on Tuesday that Israeli military officials believe that Iran could strike the country on April 12, which is the last day of Eid al-Fitr.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the ministry has been preparing for every possible scenario "regarding Iran."
Israeli strike on Damascus
On April 1, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Public Relations Department reported the death of seven Iranian military advisers in a strike by the Israeli air force on the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital. Two IRGC generals, Mohammad Reza Zahedi and Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi, and five officers were killed in the strike. According to Iran’s IRIB TV channel, Zahedi was in charge of Iran’s Al-Quds special forces in Lebanon and Syria. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Tehran would make Israel repent for the strike, while President Ebrahim Raisi vowed that the attack would not go unanswered.
Israel has so far made no statements on responsibility for the airstrike. However, Israel Defense Forces Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told CNN that, according to the Israeli military’s data, the strike had not targeted Iran’s consulate but an IRGC military facility, which he claimed had only been disguised as a civilian building.