Iranian-Israeli threats escalate amid looming major war in the Middle East

Warnings between Israeli and Iranian politicians have intensified as fears grow across the Middle East and beyond of a possible outbreak of major conflict due to intensifying clashes on the Israeli-Lebanese border and the still-raging war in Gaza.

“The Israel Defense Forces are prepared for a variety of security scenarios in all areas and will continue to protect the State of Israel from the various threats,” said an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman. Newsweek on Sunday.

The comments came two days after the Iranian mission to the United Nations (UN) announced Newsweek and published on X (formerly Twitter) one of the Islamic Republic’s most urgent warnings to date about the deteriorating security situation.

“Although Iran considers the Zionist regime’s propaganda of attacking Lebanon as psychological warfare, if it comes to full-scale military aggression, it will be a devastating war,” the Iranian mission said on Friday. “All options, including the full participation of all resistance fronts, are on the table.”

The deadliest and longest war in Gaza to date, which broke out last October between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement, has now taken on a regional dimension, as several groups of the Iran-allied “Axis of Resistance” are intervening in the fight from abroad. One of the closest and most powerful of these groups is the Lebanese Hezbollah movement.

Israel and Hezbollah have clashed regularly since the Gaza conflict began, but the cross-border war has increasingly come into the spotlight as there is a threat of a third war between Israel and Lebanon, which observers warn could have even more devastating consequences than the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

In addition to Hezbollah, there are other “Axis of Resistance” groups that claim to carry out frequent attacks against Israel. They include a coalition of militias based in Iraq and Syria known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, and the Yemeni Ansar Allah, also known as the Houthi movement.

Such groups also called for an expansion of their activities into Jordan, a strategic US partner on the border with Israel and the West Bank, where Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups have also increased their activities.

In a speech to a delegation of senior military officials on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outlined what he sees as the region-wide front lines of a broader war between Israel and Iran.

“Iran is fighting us on seven fronts: Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, the militias in Iraq and Syria, Judea and Samaria, the West Bank and Iran itself,” Netanyahu said. “They would like to overthrow Jordan. Their goal is a joint ground offensive from different fronts, coupled with a joint rocket bombardment.”

He added: “The first requirement is to cut off that hand – that of Hamas. The people who are doing this to us will not be there. We have a long fight ahead of us. I don’t think it will last that long, but we will get rid of them.”

While the Israeli military continued to announce new operations in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military also claimed responsibility for several new attacks in Lebanon on Sunday, targeting “Hezbollah’s operational infrastructure and military structure in the Taybeh and Rab El Thalathine areas” and “a military structure where other terrorists operated in the Houla area.” The Israeli military also attacked suspected Hezbollah positions in Kfarkela.

Hezbollah, for its part, claimed responsibility on Sunday for at least four new operations targeting identified Israeli positions in Metula, Beit Hillel, Biranit and Yir’on.

The attacks were said to have been carried out “in support of our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and their brave and honorable resistance, and in response to the Israeli enemy’s attacks on steadfast villages and safe houses in the south.”

In a speech on Saturday, Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem praised the unity of the “Axis of Resistance” against Israel and reaffirmed Hezbollah’s right to fight against Israel under the Lebanese constitution.

“We are convinced that this resistance must remain, be strengthened and continue, that plans must be prepared, work must be done and the right time must be determined for any confrontation,” Qassem said. “Support for us is a proactive defense. Support for us is a duty and a necessity. Support is an essential part of our future in Lebanon and in the region.”

Meanwhile, the White House continued to express deep concern about a possible escalation between Israel and Hezbollah.

“We are trying to prevent the emergence of a second front,” John Kirby, communications adviser to the National Security Council, told reporters on Wednesday. “We are trying to prevent an escalation of this conflict, which would certainly expose the people of Israel and Lebanon to greater physical danger than that which they already face, particularly those who live near the Blue Line.”

He added: “We want to prevent this outcome. That is why we are working diplomatically and with all our strength to prevent the emergence of a second front and an escalation of the conflict.”

Newsweek has reached out to Hezbollah and the US State Department for comment.