Israel braced on Thursday for the possibility of a retaliatory attack after its suspected killing of Iranian generals in Damascus this week, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country would harm "whoever harms us or plans to harm us."
His comments came after Israel's armed forces - stretched by nearly six months of war in the Gaza Strip and on the Lebanese front - announced they were suspending leave for all combat units, a day after they said they were mobilising more troops for air defence units.
The possibility of Iran retaliating for Monday's presumed Israeli air strike on Iran's embassy compound in Damascus has raised the spectre of a wider war, though two Iranian sources said Tehran's response would be calibrated to avoid escalation.
"For years, Iran has been acting against us both directly and via its proxies; therefore, Israel is acting against Iran and its proxies, defensively and offensively," Netanyahu said at the start of a security cabinet meeting late on Thursday.
More about:
