Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Iran and Hezbollah of proactive attacks, while Tehran spoke of the Jewish state’s annihilation and the region braced for the possibility of a second direct confrontation between the two arch-foes.
“We are prepared both defensively and offensively,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated during a visit Wednesday to the IDF induction base at Tel Hashomer.
“I know that the citizens of Israel are concerned, and I ask one thing of you: Be patient and level-headed,” he said.“We are striking our enemies and are determined to defend ourselves.”
The prime minister spoke with inductees at the base amid a tense week as Israel braced for potential reprisal attacks by Iran and its proxy groups, including Hezbollah, which has already been battling the IDF along the country’s northern border with Lebanon for close to 11 months.
White House Press Secretary Katherine Jean-Pierre told reporters Wednesday that American officials were urging de-escalation and that “is our focus.”
US National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said, “We’re working really, really hard, with intense diplomacy, to try to avoid an escalation.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Maryland on Tuesday that American officials had emphasized de-escalation in its intense diplomacy with allies and had commented that message “directly to Iran” as well as to Israel.
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said, “We have always said that when we need to send a message to Iran, we have the ability to do so.”
