MOSCOW, August 12 Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant discussed operational and strategic cooperation with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, as well as the readiness of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for attacks from Iran, the ministry's press service reported on Monday.
«Defense Minister Yoav Galant held a conversation with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin overnight. The ministers discussed operational and strategic coordination in light of recent events,» the press service said.
Galant spoke about the IDF's readiness to face threats from Iran and its allies, and discussed the coordination of the Israeli and American armies in the region.
The press service noted that the Israeli minister emphasized the urgency of reaching an agreement on the release of the hostages and thanked the United States for its assistance in this matter.
At the end of July, the head of the political bureau of the Palestinian movement Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in an Israeli strike on his residence in Tehran, where he had arrived to attend the inauguration of the new president of Iran. The movement blamed Israel and the United States for Haniyeh's death and said that the attack would not go unanswered. Israeli representatives said they would not comment on Haniyeh's murder. The United States was not involved in the death of the head of the Hamas political bureau, US Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Robert Wood later said.
On the evening of July 31, the American newspaper New York Times, citing sources, claimed that Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had ordered a direct strike on Israel in response to the assassination of Haniyeh in Tehran. Later, Iran's Permanent Representative to the UN Amir Said Irwani said 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 assassination of Haniyeh when it deems it necessary.