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U.S. officials believe Israel has narrowly targeted its response to the Iranian attack, which officials describe as Iran’s military and energy infrastructure.
There is no indication that Israel will target nuclear facilities or carry out assassinations, but U.S. officials stressed that they have not made a final decision on how or when Israel will act.
The region is awaiting Israel’s response to the Iranian missile barrage launched on October 1. Iran claimed this was in response to Israel’s invasion of Lebanon and Tehran’s assassinations of allies, including Hamas’s Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah’s powerful leader. , Hassan Nasrallah of Beirut.
Iran’s attacks caused little damage to Israel.
The United States does not know when Israel will respond, but officials said the Israeli military remains ready to deploy if ordered to do so.
U.S. officials stressed that they had no information indicating a response would occur today, but acknowledged that Israel had not shared a specific timeline with the U.S. – and that Israeli officials had agreed to it. It is not yet clear what that is.
U.S. and Israeli officials said the response could take place during the Yom Kippur holiday.
Officials said Israel shared further information with the United States about the retaliation, but many details were withheld due to operational security concerns. The United States stands ready to defend assets in the region from an immediate counterattack from Iran, but is unlikely to provide direct military support for this operation.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with Israeli Defense Secretary Yoav Gallant last night to broadly discuss Israel’s response. However, it is unclear whether Gallant provided any specific details. Their call came after an Israeli ministerial meeting on retaliation, but Gallant did not share the specific goals discussed at that meeting.
U.S. officials continue to urge the Israeli government to respond proportionately, sticking to its military objectives and avoiding oil, gas and nuclear facilities.
President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not discuss details during their phone call this week, U.S. officials said.
Biden urged Netanyahu to focus on the humanitarian situation in Gaza and Lebanon and called for an end to the fighting. The US president also stressed that Israel needs to consider how difficult it will be to successfully wage the Lebanon war and face the strong threat of Iran on the second front.
