Israel-Hamas war: Iran to assault Israel in 24-48 hours | LiveNOW from FOX

I do want to get to some breaking news that we have been following throughout the morning right here take a live look over at the Israel Gaza border as a new report from The Wall Street Journal citing us officials warning that Iran is expected to strike Israel in 24 to 48 hours Iran calling it retaliation for a strike in Syria that killed several.

Iranian forces Ana cine is the senior director of the Israel Pro where am at the foundation for defense of democracies joining us now live to talk more about all of this good morning and thank you so much for taking the time to be here with us hi Josh always a pleasure all right so you and I have discussed of course the Iranian attack.

That is essentially according to the US imminent here just kind of break down for me your thoughts as you hear the Wall Street Journal now reporting that it could be 24 to 48 hours uh until that attack does happen thanks Josh yeah we've been hearing this I'm in Israel for uh for these months just reporting on the war.

And we've been hearing this for about a week ever since Israel um reportedly attacked an embassy Annex in Syria and took out a a senior irgc leader there um that we've been hearing that an attack is imminent and we've been hearing language like IM imminent in the coming days in the short term and now this article with 24 to 48 hours um in in.

Israel the the mood is on heightened alert but life is going on and today the the schools in Israel broke up for a two- week uh break for the Jewish holiday of Passover and the kids were instructed to bring all their materials Home in the case of uh remote learning which would what what would be happening if there was a war there are other.

Contingencies messages going out to communities about um what what the protocols would be under certain scenarios so there is a heightened feeling but again this is these we've been hearing these alerts for a week nothing has happened yet and we're all just waiting to see how this unfolds what are and I know you've.

Looked into this what are the possibilities here for retaliation by Iran against Israel so I would point to three one is is that Iran could go after Israeli embassies or Jewish targets abroad that's one the other one is that Iran could respond through its network of proxies that it has surrounding Israel.

Iran has an expeditionary force it invests heavily in these operatives that function outside of Iranian territory they are in Iraq they are in Syria they are in Lebanon they are uh they Iran also funds the houthis in Yemen and of course they have um Palestinian subsidiaries in the West Bank and Gaza so Iran could take go after an embassy.

Abroad it could attack from one its uh one of its proxies or subsides in the region and the third option is it could attack from Iranian soil and that I would believe I would is is the least likely option however Israel's prepared for all of these contingencies I'll tell you in my um my long years studying the region it's never what you expect Israel.

Is anticipating that an attack now it's it's looking to imagining what it could be like it feels it's on heightened awareness and I I doubt there's going to be any major surprises but Iran has many different ways that respond and we will you know we're we're all your guess is as good as mine right now when Israel did attack of course over in Syria and.

We had this situation kind of start to develop and go a little bit further here do you think they thought of Iran retaliating as a possibility would that have been considered at that point before uh the attack was launched so to speak absolutely um Iran has as I said 19 proxies on Israel's border that it can ch CH uh to retaliate through any.

One of those but it's very rare um and in Israel responds in kind I mean this attack on the irgc irgc General in Syria was in response to a drone that hit a military base in a lot so this Tit for Tat between Iranian proxies and Israel has been going on for six months and and actually it's been going on for years but it's getting it's heightening now.

It's getting more it's getting the the attack are becoming more real they're hitting real they're hitting um military targets and we're reaching a kind of Crescendo so you know how Iran responds it is going to be it's going to be the decision of of the regime but in the past when Israel or the US indeed have struck Iranian targets and and high up.

Command in the irgc kasum sulamani is an example that comes to mind Iran is generally very careful very thoughtful in its response so yes taking out a a senior irgc leader was a definitely a decisive and bold move by Israel and now we'll see whether it has a deterrence effect on Iran or whether it takes the region into a broader war and that leads.

To my next question because you have Iran attack Israel Israel responds and attacks Iran does that lead to a wider range of conflict there in that region well that's the question that remains to be seen the Israel has faced attacks from Seven fronts since October 7th and while they all have different Pro proxies and they all have different.

Addresses all of those attacks have Iranian fingerprints on them these these Terror organizations are trained and funded by the um Islamic regime in Iran so while this proxy war has been going on for months and years um the the strategy does not seem to be working Israel has been on its back foot consistently in this tit fortat response.

And it's decided to make a decisive move and Target the irgc if past is as um precedent then then we can probably guess that um that we're going to see um a very careful Iran making being very thoughtful about how it responds to this and I think that we will not see a traumatic ES escal because I don't think Iran wants it Iran's plans are working.

Swimmingly it's being able to it's Death By A Thousand Cuts for Israel it's attacking from multiple proxies there's very little push back from the United States or European allies and it seems to be a winning strategy so why they would want to take this into a sharp escalation now I doubt it what is all of this revealing about.

The US and Israel relationship we know it's been slightly fractured over the past several months we've heard a lot of kind of back and forth between Biden and Netanyahu now that there is this threat it seems that the US is kind of taking uh a large stance to say look we will support Israel against Iran what does this all reveal about the relationship.

Between Israel and the us so I think it's been it's been very interesting um the Biden there's definitely been tensions between the Biden Administration and Jerusalem over what's happening Gaza and I've been writing extensively on this there's been this flash point of whether or not the US will allow Israel to finish the job.

There however from day one of this war Biden's message has been don't don't let this turn into a regional escalation and he said it to Israel's adversaries and he's also said it essentially to Israel no wider escalation this is his number one priority for con for um containing this conflict so um so his his response didn't.

Surprise me it's always comforting I think Israel feels um feels very U heartened by Biden's strong and moral position saying that he would stand by Israel but it also achieved his goals of not allowing this to turn into a wider escalation so I think he did the right thing I think it was the moral thing I think it's the right it's right to stand.

Behind your allies um but it also has been his position since day one I want to talk a little bit more about the New York Times report citing us officials and saying that it fears that most of the hostages are already dead does that change anything about the war I I don't think the New York Times has revealed anything um that whether.

It's true or not um I don't think they the New York Times is going to reveal anything that Israeli intelligence doesn't know Israelis have been hearing since uh for the past couple couple of months since about January or February that a large number of the hostages are dead and in recent negotiations um Hamas just turned down its fifth round of.

Talks to try and um and achieve a ceasefire in this war and a hostage for prisoner exchange moth continues to turn it down and in one in the most recent um uh collapse of these talks it said that it doesn't even know if it has enough people that to swap is was asking for 40 of the hostages who fit into the humanitarian category and hamas's.

Response is we don't know if we have that many people now that was something that came from a Hamas official that was also leaked to a major news outlet but there's an aspect in these negotiations of political theater on the part of Hamas and there's also an aspect of psychological warfare so while Israelis have been hearing for months that uh.

Many hostages they know for a fact according to IDF Intel at least 30 families have been alerted that their loved ones are dead but they know that many more could be and um and so taking these these assessments with a with a pinch of salt because of the aspect of psychological warfare but also having to be very realistic and that these people.

Have been gone for over 180 days and there's been no proof of life there's been no access to the International Red Cross um and and and Israelis uh I think are all expecting the worst and hoping for the best my last question here for you I want to talk a little bit about the Rafa offensive it's something that has been discussed a lot over the past.

Several months do you feel that it is quote unquote still imminent and do we know what it's going to look like so I would like to think it's imminent um I am of the belief that Israel can't finish the job in Gaza until it goes in and and and takes Rafa takes um the last four battalions of Hamas that are in Rafa until it finds.

The leadership of Hamas that are responsible for the atrocities of October 7th who are likely hiding in Rafa there's a lot of good reasons for Israel to go in but it's complicated by the fact that there's over a million and as many as 1.4 million refugees or not refugees because they're in their country where they belong where of their.

Origins but they're internally displaced people in in um that are that are taking shelter in Rafa that are going to need to be moved in order for the IDF to go in to minimize civilian casualties I mean this is a very logical thing you want to get civilians out of Harm's Way so the big question right now that Israel is grappling with and that indeed.

Some very tense conversations have happened between Jerusalem and Washington DC is how to get over a million and PE a million plus people out of ruffa so that the IDF can go in and finish the job I think it's inevitable I don't know if it's you know I've heard estimates that it's can take uh at least four weeks to get get a million and a.

Half people out of rafath I hope it can be done I hope that um the people can come out of rafath and receive as much uh medical and humanitarian Aid is necessary I hope they can they can put them up in accommodation or they can return to their um towns and cities of origin in Central and Northern Gaza um but it's I'm of the opinion that the IDF.

Will eventually have to finish the job in Rafa so that the Hamas cannot reconstitute itself after this war because that would be a victory for Hamas all right Ana cine thank you so much as always for taking the time to join us and break down some of the latest developments there out of the Middle.

East anything else you want to add about any of this before I let you go um no you know I think we pretty much covered it thank you so much for your great questions Josh it's always a pleasure all right thank you again for being here with us we appreciate it thank you

Sharing is caring!