Middle East on the brink of collapse, Israel prepares ‘other fronts’ amid Iranian threat

Here are the most important developments:

• On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country was continuing its war in Gaza but was also preparing for situations elsewhere amid concerns that Iran was preparing to attack Israel.

  “We are preparing to meet the security needs of the State of Israel, both defensively and offensively,” he said.

• Lufthansa said it had suspended flights to and from Tehran until April 13. A spokesman for the airline said it had decided not to operate flights from Frankfurt to Tehran last weekend to avoid crews having to disembark and spend the night in Tehran. .

  In addition to Lufthansa, its subsidiary Austrian Airlines also said it still plans to fly to Tehran on Thursday, but is adjusting the time to avoid crew members having to disembark overnight.

• German Foreign Minister Berbock discussed tensions in the Middle East with his Iranian counterpart and urged all parties to act responsibly and exercise restraint.

  “No one is interested in upgrading the wider region,” the ministry said in a post on social media platform X.

• The Russian Foreign Ministry told citizens they should not travel to the Middle East, specifically Israel, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.

  Moscow also urged Middle Eastern countries to exercise restraint. Reuters quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying: “At the moment, it is very important for everyone to exercise restraint in order not to lead to complete instability in the region, which is not entirely stable and predictable. sex.”

• Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi also condemned the killing of three sons of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City.

  The Tehran Times quoted Lacey as saying: “There is no doubt that this crime more clearly demonstrates the brutality and child-killing mentality of this regime.”

  Iran supports anti-Israel militant groups such as the Palestinian group Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah.

• Bloomberg quoted senior officials as saying that the United States believes that Iran is about to launch a large-scale attack on Israel and that it is only a matter of when, not if. Reports further stated that the attack could occur within the next few days.

• Axios reported that Gen. Michael Kurila, commander of U.S. Central Command, is expected to visit Tel Aviv on Thursday to consult with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galante. The report said he may discuss the imminent threat of an Iranian attack.

• On Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden reiterated the United States’ “ironclad” support for Israel amid threats from Iran.

  “Our commitment to Israel’s security against these threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad,” he said after meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday. “I repeat: the evidence is ironclad.”

• According to CNN, Iran is unlikely to directly attack Israel and may use proxies such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen to launch attacks.

• Meanwhile, Israel said 13 hostages had been released after 40 days in Hamas custody in Gaza and had returned to Israeli territory.