MOSCOW, August 11 Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari said the army is «on heightened alert» amid a possible attack on Israel by Iran, the Times of Israel reported, citing Hagari's statement.
«He (Hagari — ed.) said the troops are deployed and on heightened alert,» the newspaper reported, citing a statement by the spokesman published on the X social network.
According to the publication, Hagari added that no changes are being made to the emergency instructions for citizens of the country despite a possible attack on Israel by Iran.
Axios correspondent Barak Ravid, citing two unnamed sources, said earlier that Israeli intelligence believes Iran has decided to attack Israel directly in response to the death of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh and could do so before the hostage deal talks on August 15.
Earlier, Mohammad Najafi, the prefect of the city of Qasr-e Shirin in Iran's western Kermanshah province, which borders Iraq, reported that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC, the elite units of the Iranian Armed Forces) was conducting military exercises in the city.
The exercises are taking place amid heightened tensions in the region following the death of Palestinian Hamas Politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh on July 31 in an Israeli airstrike on his residence in Tehran, where he had arrived to attend the inauguration of Iran's new president. The movement blamed Israel and the United States for Haniyeh's death and said the attack would not go unanswered. Israeli officials said they would not comment on Haniyeh's killing. The United States was not involved in the death of the Hamas Politburo chief, US Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Robert Wood said later.
On the evening of July 31, the New York Times, citing sources, claimed that Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had ordered a direct strike on Israel in response to Haniyeh's killing in Tehran. Later, Iran's permanent representative to the UN, Amir Saeed Irwani, stated at a meeting of the UN Security Council that Tehran, in accordance with international law, reserves the right to self-defense in order to respond to the killing of Haniyeh when it deems it necessary.