Israel is fighting for its survival in a multi-front war being funded by Iran and executed by the Islamic state’s proxies, a former US senior officer has claimed.

US Admiral Mike Hewitt spoke out less than 24 hours after Israel was attacked by more than 200 Iranian ballistic missiles.

The former officer also said that he now expected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to order his commanders to directly target Iran’s senior leaders.

Adm Hewitt also said that he believed the Israeli Defence Forces would also target Iran’s military Industrial base and try to denude its ability to fire more ballistic missiles at Israel.

In an interview with National Security News he said: “Israel is really fighting for its survival on a multi-front war that’s being resourced by Iran and executed by their proxies.

“I obviously believe that Israel has demonstrated a great capability to take out leadership. Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, and I think that’s an area that they have over time demonstrated an ability to reach deep into Iran and take out senior leaders. 

“I think that’s a clear capability that they’ve demonstrated, what does that tell the Iranian leadership? It tells them that there are entities in Iran that support Israel’s sovereignty. And I think that’s a very strategic signal. What they’ve done with Hezbollah, in Lebanon has been quite remarkable. 

“The Israelis followed that up with kinetic strikes. I think the targets that I would believe they would focus on, again, is more of the leadership structure, the military industrial base of Iran, which is their command and control, the launch facilities.”

The Admiral said that Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon was something of great concern to the west and Israel.

He added that while the IDF might not have the capability to destroy Iran’s nuclear programme given that much of it was in fortified bunkers below ground the US did possess the weapons to neutralise a potential threat.

He added: “I don’t know if Israel has the capability to really take out their nuclear program. It’s very robust. It’s very underground. It’s very defended. It would be a very big challenge for them. 

“America has committed publicly that they will not allow Iran to have a WMD program. And I would take them at their word on that, which means that they do actually have the capability, in my opinion, if they decided that the threat was there to take out that program.”

Meanwhile, the IDF has suffered their first casualties since the start of Israel’s incursion into Southern Lebanon.

Captain Eitan Itzhak Oster, 22, a squad commander in the “Egoz” unit, was killed during combat, the IDF said.

It is understood he was killed when his unit was ambushed by Hezbollah in a village in southern Lebanon.

The 22-year-old was a team commander in the Egoz unit, an elite commando unit specialising in guerrilla warfare.

Israeli forces are understood to have been in clashes with Hezbollah gunmen in ‘close range’ encounters.
Hezbollah have described the fighting as ‘the first round of war’.

The Times reported a number of Israeli soldiers were killed in an ambush close to the Hezbollah tunnels after crossing the border.

Earlier it emerged Israel is planning an attack on Iran’s oil facilities within days and could even strike nuclear sites, according to reports.

A ‘significant retaliation’ is being prepared by Israel after 200 ballistic missiles rained down on targets in a strike last night.

Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed that Iran “will pay” for launching a missile strike on Israel as the Middle East teeters on the edge.

Iran is the third biggest producer of crude oil in the OPEC group of oil-producing countries and is heavily reliant on its oil and gas exports to prop up its economy.

Olaf Scholz, the chancellor of Germany said Iran has risked ‘setting the entire region on fire’.