IDF orders combat units to pause leave as Israel gears up for Iranian retaliation

The Israeli army announced on Thursday it is pausing leave for all combat units in what appears to be preparation for an Iranian response to the killing of a top IRGC commander. 

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

Israel also bolstered its missile defence system on its northern border as both Hezbollah and Iran promised revenge for the killing of IRGC official Mohammad Reza Zahedi along with six other Iranians in Damascus on Monday.

Zahedi was the most senior Iranian figure to be assassinated since the outbreak of the war. He was considered a key figure in IRGC, responsible for Iran’s actions in Syria and Lebanon, and close to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

The U.S. in the meantime relayed a message to Tehran that it wasn’t involved in the assassination.

“Tensions being high in the region, we wanted to make it very clear in private channels that the US had no involvement in the strike in Damascus,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said.

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said “the Zionist regime has put blind assassinations on its agenda in the struggle to save itself. The evil Zionist regime will be punished at the hands of our brave men. We will make them regret this crime and the other ones.”

Hezbollah echoed Khamenei, saying: “This crime will certainly not pass without the enemy receiving punishment and revenge.”

Rocket sirens sounded once again in northern Israel on Thursday after Israeli fighter jets attacked Hezbollah positions in Lebanon earlier in the day.

Iran isn’t expected to directly attack Israel but other options have been mentioned by Israeli pundits since the assassination, such as hitting Israeli targets abroad, and ordering its allies in Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and Iraq to increase their attacks on Israel.

Israel allegedly assassinated a number of IRGC commanders in both Syria and Lebanon, in what appears to be an attempt to slow down its coordination with other terror groups acting against Israel.