Israel on high alert after Iran’s missile retaliation threat

Israel has suspended leave for combat units and heightened its air defence command to deal with possible missile or drone attack from Iran following the killing this week in an airstrike of senior Revolutionary Guard commanders in Syria.

The Israeli military is also considering reopening shelters in Tel Aviv as a precaution against a possible attack, according to Mehr News Agency.

“In accordance with the situational assessment, it has been decided that leave will be temporarily paused for all IDF (Israel Defense Forces) combat units. The IDF is at war and the deployment of forces is under continuous assessment according to requirements,” the military said in a statement.

Iran has vowed revenge after an airstrike destroyed the Iranian consulate in Damascus, killing at least 11 people, including a senior commander in the al-Quds force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, said: “We consider this aggression to have violated all diplomatic norms and international treaties. Benjamin Netanyahu has completely lost his mental balance due to the successive failures in Gaza and his failure to achieve his Zionist goals.”

Iran’s ambassador to Syria, Hossein Akbari, said Iran’s response to the strike would be “at the same magnitude and harshness”.

Iran’s leaders in Tehran described the targeting of a diplomatic mission late on Monday as unprecedented and promised a harsh response.

While Israel has not officially acknowledged its involvement, the incident has the potential to further destabilise the already volatile region.

The IDF has also intensified GPS jamming efforts in response to the threat of an Iranian retaliation, causing disruptions to navigation services and impacting daily operations. The use of GPS jamming is an apparent measure meant to ward off guided missiles.

Reports indicate that the jamming has expanded to key areas in Israel, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. These measures have raised concerns about potential implications on aviation safety and daily life.

Amos Yadlin, a former Israeli intelligence chief, told Reuters that Iran may choose this Friday – the last in the holy Muslim month of Ramadan and Iran’s Quds (Jerusalem) Day – to respond to the Damascus strike, either directly or through a proxy.

“I will not be surprised if Iran will act tomorrow. Don’t panic. Don’t run to the shelters,” said Yadlin, a senior fellow at the Kennedy School’s Belfer Center at Harvard University, citing Israel’s aerial defence systems. “Be tuned for tomorrow and then, depending on the consequences of the attack, it may escalate,” Yadlin said.

On Thursday, Iran repatriated the bodies of seven IRGC members killed in the strike.

“The bodies of the Iran embassy martyrs arrived at Mehrabad airport,” in Tehran, the ISNA news agency reported.

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Reuters contributed to this report.