According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel is prepared for a multi-front war with Iran. Israel says is ready for “all possibilities” moving forward with Operation Shield and Arrow.

In separate comments, Netanyahu said that “95% of Israel’s security problems come from Iran,” referring to “an attempt by Iran to start a multi-front campaign against us.” According to a report by The Jerusalem Post, Israel “will do all it can to prevent Iran from establishing terror fronts around us,” he said at a conference for Habithonistim, a right-leaning group of former senior defense officers.

The small forum that decided to launch the operation did not include National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who boycotted this week’s cabinet meeting and whose faction members did not take part in Knesset meetings and votes in protest of the lack of a response to the rockets from Gaza. –The Jerusalem Post

According to the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, Israel has forestalled this war for a decade by waging a so-called gray-zone campaign—a wide range of operations against Iran and its proxies just below the threshold of war. But after a particularly tense month of Ramadan in 2023, during which dozens of rockets pierced Israeli airspace from both Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, Israeli military officials are now openly warning that Israel’s first multi-front war since the 1973 Yom Kippur War may be imminent.

A United States Embassy spokesperson said that the ruling class is “closely following Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip that killed three leaders of Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Israel has the right to protect itself and its people from indiscriminate rocket attacks launched by terrorist groups. We are also aware of reports that 10 civilians were tragically killed in the Israeli strikes,” the spokesperson said. “We call for all parties to de-escalate the situation.”

The United Nations Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland said he was “deeply alarmed” by the military operation in Gaza, condemning the death of civilians in the strike, which he said killed five women, four children, and a doctor. “I urge all concerned to exercise maximum restraint and avoid an escalation,” he said. “I remain fully engaged with all sides in an attempt to avoid a broader conflict with devastating consequences for all.”