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The United States says it seeks to limit attacks and responses and has urged its G7 allies to use diplomatic pressure to try to avoid a regional war.
August 5, 2024 – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned that Iran and Hezbollah could attack Israel in the next 24 to 48 hours, according to aljazeera.com/noticias and news agencies.
The unconfirmed report by US publication Axios came on Monday as fears of war in the Middle East grew. Iran and Hezbollah have vowed to retaliate for last week’s assassinations of senior Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.
Blinken told his G7 counterparts on a call that Iran and Hezbollah could launch an attack on Israel as early as Monday, Axios reported, citing three anonymous sources.
“The sources said Blinken stressed that the U.S. believes Iran and Hezbollah will retaliate,” Axios wrote, adding that Washington “does not know the exact timing” of the attack or what form it would take.
Blinken told the G7 leaders that the United States hopes to prevent escalation by persuading Iran and Hezbollah to limit attacks and limit any Israeli response. He called on other foreign ministers to join the effort to apply diplomatic pressure on the three.
The Group of Seven, which includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom, issued a statement on Monday expressing “deep concern about the high tensions in the Middle East” and calling for restraint, insisting that “no country or nation will benefit from a new escalation.”
According to Axios, General Michael Kurila, head of the U.S. Central Command, will arrive in Israel on Monday to “finalize preparations” with the Israeli military “ahead of a possible attack.”
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant warned: “If they dare to attack us, they will pay a heavy price.”
Israel and Hamas have been engaged in a nearly 10-month war in Gaza, resulting in regular low-level hostilities between Israel and Iran, Hezbollah and other groups in the region allied with Tehran.
It is widely believed that neither side is ready for all-out war, but high tensions mean the risk of a conflagration is high.
The list of countries advising their citizens to leave Lebanon immediately continued to grow on Monday following warnings from the United States and many European governments.
Japan, Saudi Arabia and France are the latest countries to urge their citizens to leave the country while commercial flights are still operating.
“In the context of a highly precarious security environment,” France’s foreign ministries for Europe and foreign affairs “urgently asked” its citizens to avoid travelling to Lebanon and advised those already in the country to leave “as quickly as possible.”
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