Israel beefs up air defenses, calls up troops as Iran payback for Syria strike looms

The IDF said on Wednesday that it bolstered its air defense array and had called up reservists, as the country girded for a potential Iranian response to a strike in Syria earlier this week in which several high-ranking Iranian military officials were killed. Both Iran and its proxy Hezbollah have vowed that Israel will not go unpunished for the Monday attack on a consular building next to Iran’s embassy in Damascus, which killed Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ most senior official in Syria, along with his deputy, five other IRGC officers, and at least one member of the Hezbollah terror group. “I won’t be surprised if Iran fires directly at Israel,” former Military Intelligence head Amos Yadlin told the network, explaining that a January missile strike carried out by Iran on neighboring Pakistan set a precedent for such action. Hebrew-language media reports said the decision to beef up air defenses and call up troops came following a threat assessment. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said earlier on Wednesday that Israel is “increasing preparedness” in the face of threats from across the Middle East. “We need to be prepared and ready for every scenario and every threat” against near enemies and distant enemies,” Gallant said, vowing that “we will know how to protect the citizens of Israel and we will know how to attack our enemies.”