Iran, Hezbollah could strike Israel in next 48 hours, US sends ships

The movements and locations of American submarines are rarely made public, but this time it is different. “The Secretary of Defense has ordered the guided-missile submarine USS Georgia to the Central Command area,” we read. The ships are to be directed to the Middle East, according to a statement released by the Pentagon after a Sunday phone call between the American Defense Secretary and his Israeli counterpart.

Lloyd Austin also ordered the acceleration of the movement of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier to the region and emphasized that the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier strike group was already present in Middle Eastern waters. It was no coincidence that the US State Department revealed all this information.

– We are telling the Iranians: don't do it. We are telling Hezbollah: don't do it. Because now you are calling on the United States to react, and you may not expect it at all – emphasizes William Cohen, former US Secretary of State.

For now, Israel and the United States are waiting for Iran and Hezbollah to respond to the assassinations of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah military commander Fouad Shukr in Beirut. Both were killed in attacks in late July. Both Iran and Hezbollah almost immediately vowed to take revenge on Israel. So far, they have taken no action.

Both sides are now carefully considering their next move, and admit that delaying the reaction is an additional punishment for the Israelis. Israelis emphasize that tensions are in the air. “It's really quiet here, but I still have in my mind that something could happen at any moment,” says Clarin Winterman, an Israeli resident.

According to foreign media, citing Israeli intelligence, Iran and Hezbollah may carry out retaliatory attacks before the ceasefire negotiations scheduled for August 15. In Israel, the Jewish holiday of Tisha B'Av falls between August 12 and 13. “Israeli intelligence services are seeing more and more preparations in Iran and Lebanon for a joint or coordinated attack on Israel,” says Barak Ravid, a political analyst.

At the same time, mediators led by the United States, Qatar and Egypt are working to reduce tensions and try to bring the parties to the negotiating table again. “The president and I have been working on this around the clock. We need to get the hostages out, we need an agreement and a ceasefire. We need to get it now,” emphasizes Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States.

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The next round of negotiations is scheduled for Thursday. Israel has confirmed that it will send a delegation. However, some right-wing coalition partners are pressuring Benjamin Netanyahu not to make any compromises and not to agree to a ceasefire, threatening to bring about the fall of his government. On the other hand, the Israelis themselves are the ones demanding the signing of the agreement. “These must be final negotiations. They cannot be abandoned without an agreement on the release of the hostages,” Efrat Machikawa, the niece of one of the hostages, told the rally.

Qatar has said Hamas's new political leader, Yahya Sinwar, wants to see an agreement signed, but the group cast doubt on Sunday on its attendance at another round of talks. “Hamas's new statement says it wants to see an agreement based on previous negotiations, not engage in more talks,” CNN's Jeremy Diamond said.

Hamas was led to these conclusions by recent Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip. On Saturday, one of the bloodiest raids in 10 months of conflict was carried out. Israeli forces attacked yet another school in Gaza City, claiming that one of the commanders of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad was hiding there. Almost 100 Palestinians were killed. “We were all seriously injured, me and my siblings too. We just want this war to end,” said Aya Obeid, a girl injured in the attack.