The Israeli Army suspended permits for all combat units on Thursday, it said in a statement, amid concerns about a possible escalation following the assassination of Iranian generals in Damascus this week, which sparked threats of retaliation.
«In accordance with the assessment of the situation, it has been decided to temporarily suspend the vacations of all combat units of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). “The IDF is at war and the deployment of forces is under continuous evaluation according to needs,” the army said in a statement.
On Wednesday, the military said it had recruited reservists to bolster air defenses. Reuters journalists and Tel Aviv residents said on Thursday that GPS services had been disrupted, a move apparently intended to deter guided missiles.
Iran has vowed to take revenge for the deaths of two of its generals and five military advisers in an airstrike on Monday against an Iranian diplomatic compound in Damascus, the Syrian capital.
It was widely believed that this was an Israeli attack, one of the largest to date against Iranian interests in Syria, which Israel has neither confirmed nor denied and which risks further inflaming the region.
Since then, investors have been nervous. The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange’s main stock index, TA-125 .TA125, fell another 2.2% on Thursday, extending this week’s losses to around 4%. The shekel weakened 0.6% against the dollar, to 3.73, and government debt prices fell as much as 0.4%.
Israel began a war against Hamas in Gaza six months ago, after the group carried out an attack on southern Israel on October 7, and has also been exchanging fire almost daily with Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. .
Iran has so far avoided entering the conflict directly, while supporting its allies’ attacks on Israeli and American targets.
Amos Yadlin, former head of Israeli intelligence services, said Iran may choose this Friday — the last of the Iranian Muslim holy month of Ramadan and Quds (Jerusalem) Day — to respond to the Damascus attack, either directly or through a allied group.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Iran acted tomorrow. Do not panic. Don’t run to shelters,” said Yadlin, a senior fellow at the Belfer Center at Harvard University’s Kennedy School, citing Israel’s air defense systems.
“Stay tuned for tomorrow and then, depending on the consequences of the attack, it may escalate,” Yadlin said.
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