Israel on high alert in anticipation of Iranian retaliation for air strike

The Israeli government is taking seriously Iran’s threats to retaliate for an air strike against a Syrian airbase which killed seven Iranian advisors, Haaretz reported on Wednesday.

Israel declared a state of high alert on its northern border with Syria and Lebanon following threats by Iranian officials on Tuesday who vowed to “respond to the Israeli crime”. This was a reference to the missile strikes against T4 Airbase in central Syria, for which, alleged Russia, Israel was responsible.

According to the newspaper, the Israeli army has deployed the Iron Dome missile defence system in anticipation of any retaliatory strike. It noted that the alert was also in place due to the increasing possibility of a US missile attack on military positions in Syria following allegations of a chemical attack carried out by the Syrian regime in the city of Douma in Eastern Ghouta.

“If Iran moves against Israel from Syrian territory, Assad and his regime will pay the price,” warned Israeli military sources. “We advise Iran not to do so because Israel is determined to go until the end.”

Read: Four Iranians ‘killed in Israeli airstrike’ on Syrian airbase

Israeli security officials said that they hoped that the head of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Hasan Nasrallah, will not be dragged into this battle if it breaks out. “We have no intention of expanding the front, but if that happens, Nasrallah must know that his fate will not be different from Assad’s fate and he will pay the price very dearly,” they insisted.

The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the Israeli ambassador to Moscow on Tuesday for clarification about the strike against the T4 Airbase.