Israeli security cabinet meets in underground bunker in fear of strike

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Israeli media
9 Aug 2024 00:05
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Israeli officials meet in "The Pit" as the occupation prepares for an anticipated Iranian response.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top Israeli officials sit in a command and control room in Kirya in Tel Aviv, occupied Palestine on April 14, 2024. (AFP)

The Israeli security cabinet is meeting tonight in the Israeli occupation forces underground command room in its headquarters known as "The Pit," Israeli media outlets reported.

The Pit is located underneath the Security Ministry's headquarters in Kirya in Tel Aviv.

The night of April 13, 2023, was the last time such a meeting was held when Iran responded to an Israeli attack on its embassy in Syria by launching hundreds of drones and missiles on Israeli targets.

Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 said that the meeting is not taking place in the pit due to security concerns, claiming that the event is a drill for a potential emergency situation.

Iran has promised to sternly respond to "Israel's" assassination of Hamas leader martyr Ismail Haniyeh in northern Tehran on July 31. As such, Israeli authorities have taken extensive precautionary measures to protect strategic sites and personnel in recent days, as Western efforts to tone down Iran's retaliatory strike fail.

In the meantime, Hezbollah has also promised a retaliatory strike against Israeli targets, following an atrocious strike that killed commander martyr Fouad Shokor and a number of civilians in the Southern Suburbs of Beirut.

Channel 12 says that the Israeli occupation forces are preparing for the possibility of receiving an order from the security cabinet to carry out a "preemptive strike" on Lebanon.

On the other hand, another Israeli broadcaster Channel 13 said that Israeli security circles assess that Hezbollah will target a senior Israeli official in response to the killing of martyr Shokor.

Alon Ben David, military commentator on Channel 13 said that going to "The Pit" in the Kiryah "is not only a drill, but rather an understanding that Hezbollah is very interested in targeting Israeli officials."

"This serves the theory of equations, since in exchange for the official that Israel assassinated, it targets an Israeli official."

"Even the weekly estimates that are held every Thursday went down today to minus four to the pit in the Kiryah, based on the belief that Hezbollah is looking to hit such a target," Ben David added.

The period leading up to Iran and Hezbollah's anticipated responses has been marked with murky US and Israeli intelligence on the time and scale of the attacks, as the US failed to gather any concrete evidence on the issue. Moreover, the attacks might also see strikes launched by the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF), as the Yemeni people have yet to retaliate for the bombing of the Hodeidah port earlier.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon has ordered a flurry of its warships, aircraft, and troops to its bases and strategic waterways in West Asia, hoping to recreate attempts to protect Israeli interests as it did in April this year.