Benjamin Netanyahu, Joe Biden to hold phone call as Iran, Hamas vow revenge over key assassinations

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden will hold a phone call on Thursday. The two leaders are likely to discuss escalating tensions in the Middle East, Axios reported on Thursday, citing an official in Netanyahu's office.

Netanyahu and Biden may hold a conversation amid escalating tension between Iran and Israel. Iran and Palestinian militant group Hamas vowed to avenge the killing of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh. Israel has been blamed for the assassination. Israel, however, has not yet taken responsibility for the killing.

A day later on Thursday, Israel confirmed the death of the head of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Deif. He was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza last month.

As Israel remains on a high state of alert, Israeli PM Netanyahu said on Thursday, "Israel is very prepared for any scenario - both defensively and offensively."

"We will exact a very heavy price for any act of aggression against us from any arena," the prime minister was quoted by Reuters as saying.

It is expected that Iran or its allies will retaliate for the killing of senior leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas this week.

Lebanon's powerful Iran-backed group Hezbollah vowed on Thursday a "definite" response to Israel's killing of its top military commander, saying the strike had crossed red lines and the decades-old rivalry between foes had entered a new phase.

"The resistance cannot but respond. This is definite," said Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, speaking in a televised address to mark the funeral of the slain commander, attended by mourners clad in black waving the group's yellow-and-green flag.

Just hours after Shukr's killing, the leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in the Iranian capital Tehran in an attack widely blamed on Israel but that Israel has not officially taken responsibility for.

(With inputs from agencies)