Middle East updates: 2 killed in Israel stabbing attack

Iran is likely preparing to go ahead with its vow to target Israel over the killing of senior Hamas and Hezbollah members, according to DW's Middle East analyst Shani Rozanes.

"I think the fact that we haven't seen anything indicates what we might be seeing, in the sense that this is not going to be a gut response from Iran," she said.

"They're taking their time, they're being very strategic, they're trying to maybe coordinate more forces in the region."

She pointed to Iranian-backed groups in Yemen, Iraq and Syria as potential threats in this respect. Iran, Hezbollah and the Houthis previously launched strikes against Israel in retaliation for what they said was an Israeli strike on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria in April.

"The idea is that there was some sort of a threshold that was broken in April, for the first time an unprecedented direct attack from Iran toward Israel. And this is a threshold that the Iranians have set to themselves," she said, referring to the Iranian strikes. 

"So it's probably not going to be less than that. Which means, last time it was around 300 different kinds of missiles that were shot at Israel — most of them were intercepted — but we're talking about probably this scale. And now for Iran it's good to keep the Israelis on edge, on high alert."

Rozanes said a wider regional escalation would play directly into the hands of Hamas, which is considered a terrorist group by the US, the EU, Germany and others.

"This is also partially what Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, wanted. When he launched the October 7 attack he wanted as many fronts that Israel would have to face as possible," Rozanes said.

"He was hoping not just for Gaza to be there but also the West Bank, what we've been seeing in Lebanon, and what we're seeing now happening in Iran. In many ways, for Sinwar, this week is finally seeing the wide extension of the goal that he has set himself for a wider conflict in the region."

Regional tensions have soared in the Middle East following the killings of two senior members of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and the Palestinian militant group Hamas earlier this week.

An Israeli airstrike killed Hezbollah military chief Fouad Shukr in Beirut on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Iran and others have blamed Israel for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday.

Both Hezbollah and Hamas are classified as terror groups by several countries.

Iran and Iranian-backed groups have vowed to take "vengeance" against Israel over the two killings.

In comments published on Saturday, the head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, General Hossein Salami, said that Israel and its supporters "must reckon with the holy wrath of the resistance groups."

Iran's non-state allies include the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as militias in Iraq and Syria.

Observers fear threats posed by these groups could result in a wider regional war, some 10 months after Israel began its military offensive in Gaza in response to the October 7 terror attack by Hamas.

In recent days, Western governments notably issued new travel warnings for Lebanon in particular.

A second person has died from a knife attack in Holon, Israel, after he succumbed to his wounds.

The Shamir-Assaf Harofeh Medical Center announced that a man in his 80s had died after he was taken to hospital, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.

A woman in her 80s had earlier died at the scene, while two other people were hospitalized with injuries.

France urged its citizens to leave Lebanon immediately on Sunday as fears grow over a broader Middle East conflict.

The move follows similar calls by Britain and the United States on Saturday.

A number of international airlines have canceled flights to and from Beirut.

Iran and Iran-backed groups in the Middle East have vowed to take revenge following Israel's assassination of Hezbollah military chief Fuad Shukr in Beirut and by the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. 

One person has died and at least three others were injured in a knife attack in the Israeli city of Holon, south of Tel Aviv, on Sunday morning.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service said a 70-year-old woman died, while three men were all taken to hospital. 

"A policeman who arrived at the scene neutralized the stabber," the Israeli Police said on social media, suggesting the perpetrator was killed.

Police also said the attacker was a resident of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.