Israel is preparing for a direct attack from Iran in the southern or northern part of the country within the next 48 hours, writes today the Wall Street Journal, citing an anonymous source familiar with the matter.

An individual with access to the Iranian leadership, however, said that while plans for an attack are being discussed, final decisions have not yet been made, the report adds.

Iran’s threat to retaliate against Israel for the attack on its consulate in Damascus further escalates tensions in the Middle East, prompting calls for restraint, while the question remains whether there will be progress in efforts to silence the guns in the Gaza Strip, at least temporarily.

While mediating countries await responses from Israel and Hamas to the latest proposal for a ceasefire, the ongoing war in the coastal Palestinian enclave continues to raise the temperature in the region.

Iran “threatens to launch a major attack against Israel,” U.S. President Joe Biden said earlier this week, reaffirming U.S. support for its close ally, despite tensions between the two governments over Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip.

“As a precaution, U.S. government employees and their family members are not allowed to travel outside the Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Beersheba areas until further notice,” according to a directive issued by the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem.

U.S. officials tell @CBSnews that Iran is preparing to deploy a swarm of drones and missiles around the end of Ramadan in retaliation for Israel’s strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus. pic.twitter.com/RaJN147r9h

— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) April 5, 2024

The American general, Michael “Eric” Kurilla, the head of the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), responsible for the Middle East region, is in Israel to discuss with the country’s military leadership the “current security threats.”

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The German airline Lufthansa announced that it is extending the suspension of its flights to and from Tehran, possibly “until tomorrow, Saturday,” due to the tension in the region.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, earlier on the same day, signaled that Israel would be “punished” for the attack on April 1 in the Syrian capital.

The bombing of the Iranian consulate in Damascus cost the lives of 16 people, including seven members of the Revolutionary Guards, an elite corps of the armed forces of the Islamic Republic, according to NGOs.

Israeli PM says ‘whoever hurts us, we hurt them’

His comments came after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei again promised to retaliate against Israel over the killings of Iranian generals in a strike on its consulate in Syria.https://t.co/3S3ger3wyc pic.twitter.com/NRNpSTjr47

— Sky News (@SkyNews) April 11, 2024

“Terrorist attack”

“If Iran conducts an attack from its territory, Israel will retaliate and strike Iran,” said Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz.

Following telephone conversations with his counterparts from Germany, Australia, and the UK, the head of Iranian diplomacy, Hossein Amirabdollahian, characterized through X the “need” for Tehran to retaliate for the deadly blow against the Iranian consulate in Damascus, although he assured that Iran “does not seek escalation.”

According to him, the purpose is not to “widen the field of war.”