Beirut, Lebanon — Middle East tensions soared Saturday as Iran and its allies readied their response to the assassination of Hamas’ political leader, blamed on Israel, spurring fears of a regional war.
Israel ally the United States said it would move warships and fighter jets to the region, while Western governments have called on their citizens to leave Lebanon — where the powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah movement is based — and airlines cancelled flights.
The killing earlier this week of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, hours after the Israeli assassination of Hezbollah’s military chief in Beirut, has triggered vows of vengeance from Iran and the so-called “axis of resistance.”
Iran-backed groups from Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria have already been drawn into the nearly 10-month war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas.
On Satruay, Israel again traded fire with Hezbollah, carried out a deadly raid in the occupied West Bank, and struck a school compound in Gaza City in an attack that the Hamas-ruled territory’s civil defense agency said killed at least 15 people.
Numerous schools turned displacement shelters have been hit across Gaza in recent weeks, with Israel saying the facilities had been used by militants. Hamas denied using civilian infrastructure for military activities.
Haniyeh was buried Friday in Qatar, where he had been based. Israel, accused by Hamas, Iran and others of the attack, has not directly commented on it.
Iran said Saturday it expects Hezbollah to hit deeper inside Israel and to no longer be confined to military targets.
With such talk growing, the Pentagon said it was bolstering its military presence in the Middle East to protect U.S. personnel and defend Israel.
An aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS Abraham Lincoln will replace one led by the USS Theodore Roosevelt, the Pentagon said.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also ordered additional ballistic missile defense-capable cruisers and destroyers to the Middle East and areas under United States European Command, as well as a new fighter squadron to the Middle East.
Rapid escalation
The killing of Haniyeh, who went to Tehran for the swearing-in of President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday, is among a series of attacks since April that had already heightened fears of a regional conflagration.
His death came hours after Israel struck south Beirut, killing Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr.
Britain urged its citizens in Lebanon on Saturday to leave immediately, with Foreign Secretary David Lammy saying: “Tensions are high, and the situation could deteriorate rapidly.”
The U.S. Embassy in Lebanon told Americans to leave on “any ticket available to them, even if that flight… does not follow their first-choice route.”
Sweden said it was shutting its embassy in Beirut and urged its nationals to leave the country “while they still can.”
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called Friday for an international coalition to support “Israel’s defense against Iran and its proxies,” his office said.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas in retaliation for its October 7 attack which triggered the war in Gaza and resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli official figures.
Militants also seized 251 hostages, 116 of whom are still held captive in Gaza, including 42 the military says are dead.
Despite the imminent threat of reprisals from Iran and its proxies, relatives of the hostages held by Hamas gathered in Tel Aviv’s so-called Hostage Square on Saturday night to pressure the government to secure the captives’ release. Other protesters planned to stage rallies near the residences of Israeli leaders.
Israel’s campaign against Hamas has killed more than 39,480 people in Gaza, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry, which does not give details of civilian and militant deaths.
Disease spreading in Gaza
Haniyeh was Hamas’ lead negotiator in efforts to end the war in Gaza. His killing raised questions about the continued viability of the month-old efforts by Qatari, Egyptian and U.S. mediators to broker a truce and exchange of hostages and prisoners.
Hamas officials, some analysts, and protesters in Israel, have accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of prolonging the war to safeguard his ruling hard-right coalition.
Violence has also surged in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where Palestinian official sources said Saturday two Israeli airstrikes killed nine people in the north of the territory.
The military said it had “eliminated terrorist cells.”
The war in Gaza has caused widespread destruction and displaced almost the entire population of the territory where, the United Nations said Friday, public health conditions “continue to deteriorate.”
It said nearly 40,000 cases of Hepatitis A, spread by contaminated food and water, have been reported since the war began.
Hezbollah has been exchanging near-daily cross-border fire with Israeli forces since October, saying it is acting in support of Hamas.
The military said at least one rocket hit northern Israel on Saturday, and Israeli forces struck targets in south Lebanon.
Hezbollah announced the death of one of its fighters, also claiming several attacks on Israeli army positions.
Late Friday, a source close to Hezbollah said Israel carried out strikes on a convoy of trucks entering Lebanon from Syria.
Several airlines have suspended flights to Beirut and Tel Aviv, Israel.
Flights to Beirut by Air France and low-cost carrier Transavia France will remain halted until at least Tuesday, their parent company said Saturday.
…