According to CNN, a person familiar with the matter said that Israel's plans to retaliate against Iran's October 1 attack were ready, but no further information was provided.
According to reports, sources also said that Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, have assured the US that counterattacks against Iran will be limited to military targets, not oil or nuclear facilities.
Israel TV reported on Tuesday that Israel has decided on the target of the attack within Iran, which indicates that Israel is close to responding to Iran's large-scale ballistic missile attack last month.
As Channel 12 News reports, the military submitted a list of targets to Netanyahu and Israel's Defense Minister Yoaf Galant as preparations were completed, which included “coordination” with other countries in the region.
A report from Israel's public broadcaster Kan said that the “political echelon” had decided on the target, but did not specify which officials or decision-making levels were.
“The goal is clear. It's just a matter of time,” an Israeli source told the broadcaster.
The report also said that Israel has described its overall attack plan to the US, but has yet to provide updated information on specific targets. At the same time, it also quoted a person familiar with the matter as saying, “The target may also change at the last minute.”
Gallant told the families of the hostages of the right-wing group “Gvura Forum” (Gvura Forum) that he is “in perfect agreement” with Netanyahu and military chief Herzi Halevi (Herzi Halevi) on “the necessity and nature of the response.” He said the response was “well-prepared.”
Galant vowed that Israel “will respond soon” to Iran. “This would be an accurate and lethal response,” he told the hostage's family.
Prior to the release of these remarks and TV reports, the “Washington Post” reported that in a conference call on October 8, Netanyahu told Biden that Israel's retaliation would not include attacks on non-military sites, and quoted an official as saying that the attack would be aimed at avoiding “political interference in the US election.”
According to the newspaper, Netanyahu's softening stance was a key factor in America's decision to send advanced anti-ballistic missile air defense systems to Israel.
Israel was previously thought to be considering attacking Iran's oil infrastructure or nuclear facilities, but the US expressed opposition due to concerns about escalating fighting, including Iran's retaliation against Israel or other regional infrastructure allied with the West.
In response to the Washington Post report late at night, the Israeli Prime Minister's office said Israel's security needs would trump any other consideration.
“We are listening to the US government's thoughts, but will make a final decision based on Israel's national security needs,” Netanyahu's office said in a statement.
Earlier reports indicated that the call between Netanyahu and Biden was the first call in two months, which helped the two sides cooperate more closely on the Iran issue. Earlier, due to frictions in relations between the leaders of the two countries, the two countries seemed to have stopped coordination on Israel's attack on Hezbollah.
However, Axios quoted an official after the call as saying that Israel's planned response was still more aggressive than the US had hoped.
Sources told CNN that US officials expect Israel to retaliate against Iran attacks this month by November 5. This schedule will bring the increasingly volatile situation in the Middle East into the public eye a few days before the US presidential election.
Sources said that the timeline and parameters for Israel's retaliation against Iran have always been influenced by heated internal debates within the Israeli government and are not directly related to the timing of the US election.
Despite this, they said that Netanyahu, who is very familiar with US politics, seems highly sensitive to any political impact Israel's actions may have in the US.
The growing conflict in the Middle East has become an enduring issue in the US election. Biden and Harris are facing pressure from the left to deal with this situation. Meanwhile, Republicans, including former President Trump, accuse the administration of failing to handle the crisis, leaving the world in chaos.
As election day approaches, the Biden-Harris administration is putting fresh pressure on Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. In a letter revealed this week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (Antony Blinken) and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (Lloyd Austin) warned Israel that failure to provide more aid to the enclave could cause military aid to be interrupted.
But the letter was not signed by the US President or Vice President, which is a sign of worrying political developments. Despite pressure from the left, neither of them publicly threatened to cut off aid to Israel. The deadline for Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza is after the elections. The same week that warning was issued, some military personnel and components of advanced air defense systems supplied by the United States to Israel arrived in the country.