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IDF cancels leave for all combat units in wake of Iran threats

The army on Wednesday called up reserve soldiers to the IDF Aerial Defense Array

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SOUTHERN ISRAEL - MARCH 4: Soldiers with the Israel Defense Forces stand with their weapons on March 4, 2024 in southern Israel near the border with Gaza. Over the weekend, the U.S. vice president voiced the most forceful demand yet that there be an immediate ceasefire in the conflict, imploring Hamas to agree to the a six-week pause in fighting and calling on Israel to increase the flow of aid into the territory. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)

With Iran threatening revenge for the assassination of one of its top commanders on Monday, the Israeli military took the unusual step on Thursday of canceling leave for all combat units.

“The IDF is at war and the deployment of forces is under continuous assessment according to requirements,” the army said in a statement.

The notice comes after the army on Wednesday decided to increase manpower and call up reserve soldiers to the IDF Aerial Defense Array.

Meanwhile, there have been reports of widescale GPS disruptions in Israel, a defensive measure attributed to the IDF as a means to confuse enemy aerial attacks, though the military has remained silent on the matter.

According to Israeli assessments, Iran could attempt to attack Israel through one of its terror proxies, whether it be Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen or militia forces in Syria.

Iran holds Israel responsible for the death of Brig. Gen. Mohammad Zahedi, a top commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ Quds Force responsible for Syria and Lebanon, who was killed in an airstrike in Damascus on Monday.

Along with Zahedi, six other members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were killed in the attack, which targeted a building adjacent to the Iranian embassy.

Israel said it attacked terror targets in Southern Lebanon on Wednesday night. “IAF fighter jets struck Hezbollah launch posts in the area of Khiam and terrorist infrastructure in the area of Kfar Kila,” it said.

On February 4, military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari revealed that the IAF has attacked more than 50 targets belonging to Hezbollah and other Iran-backed terrorist groups in Syria since the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks in southern Israel.

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