Israel planning its retribution assault on Iran

War cabinet wants to strike hard — but avoid creating casualties

Israel is planning a “painful” strike on Iran that does not cause casualties, according to leaks from the Prime Minister’s war cabinet. Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly asked the Israel Defence Forces to draw up a list of targets that Israel could choose to hit that the US would not object to.

A carefully calibrated response to Iran’s unprecedented missile and drone attack at the weekend could come in the form of a precision strike on a facility in Tehran, or a cyber attack, the Washington Post reported.

“Everybody agrees that Israel must respond,” the official said. “How to respond, when to respond, is the question.”

Israel and Iran have been engaged in a shadow war for decades. Until now, both have always chosen to strike at each other via indirect means, with Israel attacking Iranian assets abroad, and Iran supporting regional militant proxy groups to threaten Israeli targets.

But now, experts say the floodgates have opened after Iran launched a direct attack from its soil against Israel.

Israel’s Channel 12 news claimed the war cabinet had agreed to strike back at Iran “clearly and forcefully”, and that several options had been discussed that would be “painful” but unlikely to trigger a regional war.

The war cabinet is also aiming to find a way to retaliate against Iran that won’t be blocked by the United States, after President Joe Biden told Netanyahu that Washington would not support an Israeli counter-attack.

Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defence minister, yesterday told his US counterpart Israel has no choice but to respond to Iran’s attack.

Netanyahu has still not publicly commented on the plan for retaliation, and the war cabinet was due to reconvene overnight.

Hardliners in the cabinet have said Israel must go “berserk” on Iran, and should not waste time with its retaliation for Iran’s first ever direct attack on Israel.

“Ideas of containment and moderation are the perceptions that ended on October 7,” Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister, said in a statement.

To create a deterrent in the Middle East, Israel has got to show that it is prepared to go berserk. Itamar Ben-Gvir Israeli security minister

“To create a deterrent in the Middle East, Israel has got to show that it is prepared to go berserk.”

Meanwhile Biden hosted Iraq’s leader at the White House yesterday as his administration worked to prevent an escalation in Mideast hostilities.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani was visiting for talks intended to focus primarily on US-Iraq relations, which had been scheduled well before the Iranian strikes. But the drone and missile launches, including some that overflew Iraqi airspace and others that were launched from Iraq by Iran-backed groups, have underscored the delicate relationship between Washington and Baghdad.

The sharp increase in regional tensions over Israel’s war in Gaza and the weekend developments have raised further questions about the viability of the two-decade American military presence in Iraq. However, a US Patriot battery in Irbil, Iraq, did shoot down at least one Iranian ballistic missile, according to American officials, one of dozens of missiles and drones destroyed by US forces alongside Israeli efforts to defeat the attack.

Biden reinforced that the US remains “committed to Israel’s security”.

“Our partnership is pivotal for our nations, the Middle East and the world,” Biden told al-Sudani, as the Iraqi leader noted the discussion comes at a “sensitive time”.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby declined to say whether the US had been or expects to be briefed on Israeli plans. “We will let the Israelis speak to that,” he said. The US has already ruled out being party to a direct strike on Iran.

“We are not involved in their decision-making process about a potential response,” Kirby added.

Analysts say Iran sent a message that it would be willing to escalate its shadow war with Israel.

“It’s a warning shot, saying that if Israel breaks the rules, there are consequences,” said Magnus Ranstorp, strategic adviser at the Swedish Defence University.

Iran maintains that it does not seek all-out war across the region. Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said in a post on X, that Iran has “no intention of continuing defensive operations” unless it is attacked.

Iran stressed that it targeted Israeli facilities involved in the Damascus attack, not civilians or “economic areas”.

— Telegraph Group Ltd, AP