Update(1831ET): With Israel's embassies around the world on a heightened state of alert, and extra IDF reservists called up, and home and weekend leave for all combat troops having been abruptly canceled Thursday, the Israeli population is anxiously awaiting a response - with some reports saying residents are already seeking the safety of bomb shelters.

Tehran has vowed that vengeance is coming soon for the Monday Israeli airstrike on its embassy in Damascus. Most pundits believe this will take the form of ballistic missiles raining down on Israeli cities. But Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly vowing that if the Islamic Republic launches missiles from its soil it will ensure "a strong response" from Israel.

Israeli officials have told Axios late in the day that such an act would "take the current conflict to another level" — which most certainly would involve a direct Israel-Iran war and thus the eruption of a broader regional conflict. Axios adds the following observations:

Iranian proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Gaza have attacked Israel but there hasn't been an attack from Iranian soil.

A direct Iranian strike on Israel would be unprecedented and could lead to a regional war in the Middle East.

Netanyahu informed his security cabinet Thursday that Israel's forces have already been engaged with Iran "both directly and via its proxies, and therefore Israel is operating against Iran and its proxies, both defensively and offensively."

A statement issued by the prime minister's office laid out: "We will know how to defend ourselves and will operate according to the basic principle of whoever is harming or planning to harm us — we will harm him." The White House has meanwhile issued a statement shortly after Biden and Netanyahu discussed the Gaza crisis, saying "President Biden made clear that the United States strongly supports Israel in the face of those [Iranian] threats."

There have meanwhile been unverified reports to emerge saying that the CIA has warned Israel to expect an attack from Iran within the next 48 hours, which has also been picked up in Israeli press.