Blinken to G7: Iran, Hezbollah Could Start Attacking Israel as Early as Monday

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Munkhbayar Magvandorj)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Munkhbayar Magvandorj)
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Blinken to G7: Iran, Hezbollah Could Start Attacking Israel as Early as Monday

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Munkhbayar Magvandorj)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Munkhbayar Magvandorj)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told his counterparts from the G7 countries that Iran and Hezbollah could start attacking Israel as early as Monday, US news service Axios reported.

But Blinken, according to Axios, which cited three sources briefed on the call, said it was unclear how Iran and Hezbollah would attack and did not know the exact timing.

There are mounting fears that Israel's war against Palestinian militants in Gaza could escalate into a wider Middle East conflict.

Iran and Hamas have blamed Israel for the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital, and they, together with Hezbollah, have vowed revenge.

An Israeli strike in Beirut has also killed Fuad Shukr, a senior Hezbollah military commander.

When asked about the Axios report, the State Department referred to a readout of the call, where it said the ministers discussed "the urgent need for de-escalation in the Middle East."

The Pentagon said on Friday it would deploy additional fighter jets and Navy warships to the region.

"The overall goal is to turn the temperature down in the region, deter and defend against those attacks, and avoid regional conflict," Jonathan Finer, the White House's deputy national security adviser, said on CBS' "Face the Nation" program.

The US and Israel are preparing for every possibility, Finer added.
There was a "very close call" of regional conflagration in April, Finer said, when Iran launched an attack on Israeli territory with drones and missiles after what it called an Israeli strike on its consulate in Damascus on April 1 that killed seven officers of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps in the Syrian capital.



Hamas Seeks to Name Haniyeh’s Successor as Soon as Possible

A Palestinian girl cries after an Israeli airstrike hit a school complex in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, north of Gaza City, on Saturday. (AFP)
A Palestinian girl cries after an Israeli airstrike hit a school complex in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, north of Gaza City, on Saturday. (AFP)
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Hamas Seeks to Name Haniyeh’s Successor as Soon as Possible

A Palestinian girl cries after an Israeli airstrike hit a school complex in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, north of Gaza City, on Saturday. (AFP)
A Palestinian girl cries after an Israeli airstrike hit a school complex in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, north of Gaza City, on Saturday. (AFP)

Informed Hamas sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that until Sunday, no person had been chosen to head the movement’s political bureau after the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week.

The sources confirmed that there are ongoing consultations in an attempt to implement the movement’s by-laws, amid a vacuum in many senior positions in the Shura Council and its executive body.

On Saturday, Hamas said in a statement that it had “begun a broad consultation process in its leadership and Shura institutions to choose a new head of the movement” following Haniyeh’s assassination, which was blamed on Israel.

Several potential candidates can be chosen to assume the position, including Khaled Meshaal, Musa Abu Marzouk, Yehya Al-Sanwar, Khalil Al-Hayya, and Zaher Jabareen.

Asharq Al-Awsat sources suggest that Meshaal is likely to be selected as head of the movement to replace Haniyeh until the end of the war, perhaps before holding early elections at the end of the current stage.

According to the sources, the presence of prominent leaders from within the movement abroad, specifically in Qatar, will help in overcoming the current crises and trying to expedite the steps to choose the prospective personality.

Meshaal is the former head of Hamas, and has lived in exile since 1967, moving between Jordan, Qatar, Syria, and other countries.

He was chosen as head of the movement’s political bureau after Israel assassinated the founder of Hamas, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, and after him, his successor in the Palestinian territories, Abdulaziz Al-Rantisi.