Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned today, Wednesday, that Israel would deal a "resounding blow" in the event of an attack from Iran, following the escalation of Iranian threats and targeting two bases that include American soldiers in Iraq.
"We will deal a resounding blow to any party attacking us," Netanyahu said during a press conference in Jerusalem.
Netanyahu considered that the commander of the Iranian Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in an American strike in Baghdad, was responsible for killing innocent people, and that he affected the stability of many countries, spreading fear and suffering in the region, and planned much worse things.
Netanyahu stressed that Israel was "totally standing" alongside US President Donald Trump's decision to kill him, and that he should be congratulated on his move "quickly, boldly and firmly."
During the same press conference, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said, "The initial assessments are positive, and we pray that these reports are correct," without further clarification.
"Our army is the strongest in the world, and our cause is just. We pray to God to prevail overwhelmingly," Friedman added.
Netanyahu praised Soleimani’s killing last Friday, describing him as a “terrorist leader,” but yesterday he presided over a meeting of the security cabinet (cabinet), in which he said that Soleimani’s killing was “an American act that does not belong to us, and we should not be dragged into it.”
And the Iranian Revolutionary Guards announced at dawn today targeting two bases that include American soldiers in Iraq with dozens of ballistic missiles, in response to the killing of Soleimani, and Iranian sources have spoken of at least 80 people killed in the attack.
The Revolutionary Guards have threatened US allies who receive American bases, and have said that it would launch a third wave that would destroy Dubai and Haifa if Washington retaliated by missile strikes.
For its part, the Iranian Tasnim news agency reported Wednesday, citing unidentified sources, that the Lebanese Hezbollah would strike Israel if the United States responded to the Iranian bombing.