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World War 3 fears were sparked this week after Israel hit the Syrian capital of Damascus early on Monday as part of its increasingly open assault on Iran's presence there. In response, Iran issued a chilling message to arch-enemy Israel – warning it is “impatient” and ready to confront and destroy the nation in a statement issued just hours after Israel launched the air raids in Syria.

This indicates is a very rapid escalation that’s occurring and Netanyahu stated it is only going to intensify

The former Pentagon official Michael Maloof has warned the situation between the two states is getting “quickly out of hand” due to the “intensified Israeli attacks”.

Mr Maloof told RT America: “You have got to keep in mind that the alleged Iranian attack was in response to a prior Israeli attack on Syria.

“So, basically, the Israelis started the whole thing by firing rockets at their sites at the side of Syria.

“So what this indicates is a very rapid escalation that’s occurring and Netanyahu himself basically stated that he is only going to intensify and I think this is also a prelude to something even more serious in terms of probably creating even greater uncertainty and conflict within the region itself.