Israel draws up plans to attack Iran

Israel has said it has drawn up plans to attack Iran in response to the unprecedented missile and drone strike.

Yesterday, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said the country’s war cabinet had approved both “offensive and defensive action”, despite warnings from Western leaders.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, called off an immediate retaliation following intervention from United States President Joe Biden, who asked him to “think carefully” about his next move.

But Israel said it reserved the right to strike Iran at a “manner and time” of its choosing. It told the United Nations Iran had “crossed every red line” in its attack.

The UN Security Council was preparing for an emergency meeting to discuss Iran’s attack, after a request from Israel.

Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary general, told the council: “Regional, and indeed global peace and security are being undermined by the hour. Neither the region nor the world can afford more war.”

Speaking to the security council, Israel’s ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan refused to rule out a strike in retribution of Iran’s attack. “We are surrounded by Iran’s terror proxies. This attack crossed every red line and Israel reserves every right to retaliate.”

The Iranian ambassador to the UN said Tehran had an “inherent right to respond proportionately” if the US was to join any Israeli military operations against Iran.

US defence officials said Iran fired more than 100 ballistic missiles and hundreds of drones and rockets at Israel at the weekend in a bid to overwhelm its air defences.

The warheads were mostly intercepted by Israeli, American, French, Jordanian and British fighter jets and warships.

The attack, which Iran claimed was “legitimate self-defence”, came in response to the bombing of an Iranian consulate compound in Damascus earlier this month.

Israel has pledged to respond to the strike in kind, although the exact nature and timing of its operation is not yet clear.

Biden has told Netanayhu the US would not join retaliatory strikes against Iran, and suggested he should “take the win” of minimal damage from the Iranian attack.

Iran said it was not considering another strike “at present” but it would retaliate again if Israel launched a counter-attack. – Telegraph Group