Middle East just a ‘misjudgement’ away from all-out Israel v Iran WAR, CIA chief warns as more troops pour into Lebanon

THE embattled Middle East is just a “misjudgement” away from an all-out war between Israel and Iran, CIA chief William Burns has warned.

Tensions in the region have spiralled in recent weeks – with Israel last night expanding its ground assault in Lebanon.

EPA

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike near the villages of Khiam and Kfar Kila[/caption]

EPA

Damage following an Israeli military strike targeting Ghazieh town[/caption]

Rex

Israeli soldiers pictured in southern Lebanon[/caption]

Reuters

CIA chief Williams Burns[/caption]

CIA boss Burns said the region could be teetering on the cusp of a dramatic escalation as clashes could spread across the Middle East.

He said that while the US intelligence community believes neither Israel nor Iran wants “all-out conflict”, there is a huge risk of miscalculation.

Burns added: “We face the very real danger of a further regional escalation of conflict.”

He said Israel is “weighing very carefully” how it would respond to Iran’s unprecedented missile barrage last week – but warned “misjudgements” could lead to an escalatory spiral.

“The Middle East is a place where complicated stuff happens all the time,” Burns said.

Tensions between Iran and Israel have become palpable in recent weeks.

Reeling from the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Israel’s invasion into Lebanon, Iran fired 181 missiles at Israel last Tuesday.

But Israel’s Iron Dome provided a near-total block of the blitz – following the success of its pager and walkie-talkie blitz which maimed and decimated enemy ranks.

Furious PM Benjamin Netanyahu however warned the terrorist state had made a “big mistake” and “will pay”.

The region has since been bracing for a major response – with an attack likely to hit Iranian oil plants and air defence systems.

A revenge plot against Iran comes as Israel continues its mission to wipe out Hezbollah’s war machine at its northern border with Lebanon.

Thousands of civilians have already fled the country’s south as the showdown between Hezbollah and Israel intensifies.

The Israel Defense Forces has now poured more troops into Lebanon – deploying a fourth division last night.

Its 146th Reserve Division has joined three standing army divisions –  the 98th, 36th, and 91st – already operating in the south.

Israel now has a likely 15,000-strong army in Lebanon.

The focus of the operation is clearing out Hezbollah terror sites to halt rocket attacks which have driven 60,000 from homes in Northern Israel in the last 11 months.

It claimed actions there would remain “limited and localised”.

AFP

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a neighborhood in Beirut’s southern suburb[/caption]

Reuters

Rockets fly in the sky after Iran fired a salvo of ballistic missiles at Israel[/caption]

Clashes between Hezbollah and Israel have been simmering for a year after the terror group started firing rockets over the border in solidarity with Hamas following the October 7 atrocity.

Yesterday – on the first anniversary of the attack – the IDF said they had foiled a Hamas terrorist bid to unleash mayhem among mourners at vigils.

Israeli spotters were said to have detected threats from Gaza close to events where a thousand relatives of Nova Festival victims had gathered at dawn.

Commanders feared rockets were being prepared to explode among those gathered to grieve in southern Israel’s Negev Desert.

But the terror attack was suppressed by withering artillery plus drone and air strikes directed at rocket launch sites in the terrorist enclave.

Constant outgoing artillery rounds closeby and occasional bursts of heavy machine gun fire were heard as the vigil got underway.

The huge operation – carried out as Israeli president Isaac Herzog consoled relatives – succeeded in protecting the event.