Israel calls up reservists fearing Iranian revenge to Syria killings

Israel has beefed up its air defences and called up reservists amid mounting fears of an Iranian response to an air strike in Syria blamed on Tel Aviv that killed several high-ranking Iranian military officials.

A Channel 12 news report in Israel reported a possible Iranian reprisal with Tehran directly launching missiles from its own territory rather than via any of its proxy groups, which include militias in Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen.

IDF announcement

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), now waging an unrelenting brutal war against the Hamas in Gaza that shows no signs of ending, said it has halted home leave for all combat troops following a fresh assessment.

“The IDF is at war and the issue of the deployment of forces is constantly reviewed as needed,” it said.

An attack from Iranian territory would likely push the IDF to launch “a significant reprisal”, sending regional tensions snowballing further, the Times of Israel reported on Thursday (April 4).

Fresh assessment

“I won’t be surprised if Iran fires directly at Israel,” former military intelligence head Amos Yadlin was quoted as saying, adding that a missile strike in January by Iran on Pakistan set a precedent for such action.

Hebrew-language media reports said the decision to beef up air defences and call up troops followed a threat assessment by the Israeli government.

Israel has been in ferment ever since it launched a military blitzkrieg against the Hamas after the Palestinian group’s bloody raid on southern Israel on October 7, killing some 1,200 Israelis and abducting hundreds.

Retaliatory threats

Israel’s war on Gaza, from where the Hamas attacked Israel, has left more than 32,000 people dead. Most are said to be civilians, triggering global outrage.

Both Iran and its proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon have vowed that Israel will not go unpunished for the Monday attack on a consular building next to Iran’s embassy in Damascus.

The attack killed Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) most senior official in Syria along with his deputy, five other IRGC officers and at least one member of the Hezbollah.

Ayatollah Khamenei

Israel has not said it carried out the bombing in Damascus. But media reports have quoted unnamed Israeli officials as saying that Tel Aviv was responsible.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has vowed revenge for the Israeli strike.

“The defeat of the Zionist regime in Gaza will continue and this regime will be close to decline and dissolution,” Khamenei told officials in Tehran on Wednesday. “Of course, they will also be slapped for that action,” he added.

Israeli warning

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had "completely lost his mental balance", Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was quoted as saying on his ministry's website.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said earlier on Wednesday that Israel was “increasing preparedness” in the face of threats from across the Middle East.

“We need to be prepared and ready for every scenario and every threat” against near enemies and distant enemies,” Gallant said. “We will know how to protect the citizens of Israel and we will know how to attack our enemies," he added.

Iranian general

Hamas's military wing, the Qassam brigades, has said Brig Gen Zahedi, who was among those killed in Damascus, had a "prominent role" in the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel which sparked the current war in Gaza.

"Iran is not capable of a big confrontation with Israel given its military capabilities and economic and political situation," Ali Sadrzadeh, an author and analyst of Middle East affairs, told the BBC.

"But it will have to come up with a response for domestic consumption and to protect its reputation among its regional allies."