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Israel was on heightened alert Sunday after an Israeli broadcaster warned that Iran could launch a large-scale attack on Israeli territory to derail delicate diplomatic negotiations, even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited troops in southern Lebanon to declare that the threat of a Hezbollah ground invasion had been neutralized.
Channel 14 reported that Israeli security officials were closely monitoring the possibility that Tehran would seek to disrupt ongoing negotiations with a major strike on Israeli soil. The warning underscores the fragility of the current diplomatic moment, with Israel-Lebanon-U.S. talks scheduled to take place in Washington on Tuesday.
The prime minister appeared in a flak jacket alongside masked soldiers in a video released by his office, projecting confidence in the military's performance on the Lebanese front. "What we are seeing is that we have thwarted the threat of an invasion from Lebanon through this security zone," he said. He was accompanied by Defense Minister Israel Katz and military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir.
Netanyahu acknowledged that the conflict was far from finished. "The war continues, including within the security zone in Lebanon," he said, adding that ground operations inside southern Lebanon had helped in "containing the danger of rocket fire" from Hezbollah targeting northern Israeli communities. Israeli forces are also, he said, "dealing with Hamas" in the area. "There is still more to do, and we are doing it."
Israel's Home Front Command recorded at least 10 rocket attacks from Lebanon into Israel on Sunday, though no casualties were reported.
Lebanon was drawn into the wider regional war when Tehran-backed Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in early March, days after U.S. and Israeli strikes killed Iran's supreme leader at the outset of hostilities on February 28. Israel responded with large-scale airstrikes and a ground push into southern Lebanon.
Iran's potential to act as a spoiler, as reported by Channel 14, adds a volatile dimension to those negotiations. A major Iranian strike on Israel could rapidly transform the diplomatic calendar and force all parties to recalibrate.
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