Netanyahu's statements came after the army announced that it had temporarily suspended granting departure permits to “combat units,” blocked GPS signals in some areas, and enhanced its “alertness” as the war with Hamas approached its seventh month.
Netanyahu said, “For years, Iran has been working against us, whether directly or through its agents. Therefore, Israel has been working against Iran and its agents, defensively and offensively.”
He added, “We know how to defend ourselves and we will work according to the simple principle that whoever harms us or plans to harm us, we will harm him.”
This comes three days after a building attached to the Iranian embassy in Damascus was destroyed in an air strike attributed to Israel, leaving 16 people dead, including seven members of the Revolutionary Guard.
Iran vowed to respond to the strike.
The army announced that “it was decided to temporarily postpone the permissions granted to combat units,” noting that the Israeli forces “are in a state of war and the issue of deploying soldiers is constantly being reviewed according to needs.”
The army also said it was calling for additional reservists to be sent to its air, intelligence and civil defense units.
Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari confirmed the jamming of GPS signals, as a defensive step against certain weapons such as missiles and drones.
He added, “We have enhanced the readiness of our combat units where needed… We have strengthened the defensive systems and have aircraft ready for defense and ready to attack in different scenarios.”
A post by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said in Hebrew: “With God’s help, we will make the Zionists regret their aggressive crime against the Iranian consulate in Damascus.”
The war broke out between Israel and Hamas on October 7, following an attack carried out by the movement on southern Israel, killing 1,170 people, most of them civilians, according to an Agence France-Presse count based on official Israeli figures.
During the attack, about 250 people were kidnapped, 130 of whom are still hostage in Gaza, and 34 of them are believed to have died, according to official Israeli estimates.
The Hamas Ministry of Health announced that the death toll in the Gaza Strip had risen to 33,037 people, the majority of whom were women and children, since the start of the war.
(function(d, s, id) {
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = “https://connect.facebook.net/ar_AR/all.js”;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));
#Israel #strengthens #defenses #attack #Iranian #consulate #Damascus
