Even as tension flares up in West Asia, the Delhi Police has reviewed the security of the Israeli Embassy and Chabad House following alerts from the intelligence agencies in the wake of the killing of a Hamas leader in Tehran. A multi-layered security has already been put in place with several CCTV cameras installed around both the structures. According to a senior officer, more personnel may be deployed, if required.
On July 31, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and his bodyguard were killed in an airstrike that hit a residence where Haniyeh was staying in Tehran as a guest. According to sources, senior officers of the Delhi Police force have held a meeting to plan a massive security net around the two Israeli buildings in the national Capital.
This came after the Delhi Police debunked rumours of an “explosion” at the Embassy, calling it a hoax. The police said on X that it was a fake alert before deleting the post.
Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy in Israel on Friday issued an advisory for the Indian nationals living in the country to stay vigilant and “adhere to safety protocols”.
“In view of the prevailing situation in the region, all Indian nationals in Israel are advised to stay vigilant and adhere to the safety protocols as advised by the local authorities. Please exercise caution, avoid unnecessary travel within the country and stay close to safety shelters,” the Embassy of India in Israel posted on X. Air India has already cancelled its flight to Tel Aviv in the wake of escalating tensions in West Asia.
In the past three years, two low-intensity blasts have taken place near Israeli Embassy in the national Capital. No one was injured in the both attacks. Security around the Israel Embassy was upped after a war between Israel and Hamas broke out last year.
In December last year, a low-intensity blast was heard near the Israel Embassy in the high-security Lutyens’ zone, triggering concern among the Indian security and intelligence agencies and prompting them to carry out an extensive search in the area. During this operation, a letter addressed to the Israeli Ambassador was recovered at the spot.
Following the back-to-back assassinations of Haniyeh in Tehran early on Wednesday and top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut the evening before, international diplomats have scrambled to head off a full-fledged regional war after Iran and its regional proxies vowed to retaliate.
Major airlines cancelled flights to Tel Aviv, Israel and Beirut, Lebanon.
Meanwhile across the Muslim world — from Jordan and Morocco to Yemen and Somalia — angry crowds waving Palestinian flags rushed out of mosques after midday Friday prayers, calling for revenge.
Iran has said it expects Lebanon’s Tehran-backed Hezbollah group to hit deeper inside Israel and no longer be confined to military targets after Israel killed the Hezbollah commander. Hezbollah has been exchanging near-daily fire with Israeli forces.
In Washington, the US Defense Department will move a fighter jet squadron to the Middle East and maintain an aircraft carrier in the region, the Pentagon said as President Joe Biden made good on his promise to beef up the American military presence to help defend Israel from possible attacks by Iran and its proxies and safeguard US troops.
In a statement, the department said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also ordered additional ballistic missile defence-capable cruisers and destroyers to the European and Middle East regions and is taking steps to send more land-based ballistic missile defence weapons there. The shifts come as US leaders worry about escalating violence in the Middle East in response to recent attacks by Israel on Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, which triggered threats of retaliation.
In a related development, an Israeli airstrike on a vehicle in the occupied West Bank killed five Palestinians, according to Israel’s army and Palestinian media, as violence flares in the Israeli-occupied territory. The Israeli army said its forces struck a vehicle carrying five militants in a rural area northwest of the city of Tulkarem in the northwest West Bank early Saturday morning, as the occupants were on their way to carry out an attack. The Palestinian health ministry has not commented on the deaths.
