BEIRUT/CAIRO – US officials believe Israel has narrowed down targets in its potential response to Iran’s attack this month to military and energy infrastructure, NBC reported on Saturday.
The Middle East remains on high alert for further escalation in a year of war as Israel battles Iran-backed groups Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. Tehran, a major oil producer, has threatened Israel with severe consequences if the Islamic Republic is attacked.
Israel has repeatedly said it will respond to Iran’s missile barrage on Oct. 1, which was launched in retaliation for Israel’s military operations in Gaza and Lebanon and the killings of a string of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.
In Dubai, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Sunday Iran has “no red lines” in defending itself, as the Middle East anxiously braced for Israel’s response to the missile attacks.
Araqchi’s comments appeared intended to dispel suggestions that Iran would absorb an Israeli strike without a further response, as Tehran did earlier this year when Israel last struck Iran after a volley of Iranian missiles.
“While we have made tremendous efforts in recent days to contain an all-out war in our region, I say it clearly that we have no red lines in defending our people and interests,” Araqchi said in a post on X.
Iran fired more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel on Oct. 1 amid an escalation in fighting between Israel and its proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah. Many were intercepted in flight but some penetrated missile defenses, although the only fatality was a Palestinian killed by debris that fell on the West Bank.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has said Israel will hit Iran in a way that will be “lethal, precise and surprising.”
The NBC report said there was no indication Israel would target nuclear facilities or carry out assassinations in Iran.
The NBC report cited unidentified US officials and added that Israel had not made final decisions about how and when to act. It also cited US and Israeli officials as saying a response could come during the Jewish Yom Kippur holiday. The holiday ended on Saturday evening without an Israeli strike.
‘EVACUATE PEACEKEEPERS’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the United Nations on Sunday to evacuate troops in its UNIFIL peacekeeping force from combat areas in Lebanon.
Netanyahu said the military had asked the UN to evacuate the soldiers repeatedly, adding that their presence in the area made them hostages of Hezbollah.
A series of strikes have hit peacekeeping positions and personnel in recent days, most of them blamed by UNIFIL on Israeli forces, drawing condemnation from the United Nations and several foreign nations. A total of five peacekeepers have been wounded.
Hezbollah denies Israel’s accusation that it treats the peacekeepers as hostages and says Israel wants them to leave so they cannot serve as a check on the Israeli cross-border campaign.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in a call with Israeli Defense Minister Gallant on Saturday, expressed “deep concern” about reports that Israeli forces had fired on peacekeeper positions and urged Israel to ensure safety for them and the Lebanese military, the Pentagon said. The Lebanese military is not party to Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah.
Fighting across the border erupted a year ago when Hezbollah began launching rockets at northern Israel at the start of the Gaza war, and has sharply escalated in recent weeks, with Israel announcing a ground incursion.
Israel’s military said it continues to operate in southern Lebanon to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure.
“Over the past day, the IAF (air force) has struck approximately 200 Hezbollah targets deep in Lebanon and southern Lebanon, including terrorist cells, launchers, anti-tank missile posts, and terrorist infrastructure sites,” it said.
Israel also said five launches that crossed from Lebanon were intercepted by the air force.
The Israeli military added in a statement on Sunday that one of its reservists and an officer were severely injured in two separate incidents during combat in southern Lebanon, with additional soldiers suffering light-to-moderate injuries.
The Israeli military also said that it captured a Hezbollah militant in southern Lebanon after discovering an underground tunnel leading to a hideout concealing weapons and supplies for extended use.
Hezbollah announced a rocket strike on the Tirat HaCarmel transport base in southern Haifa, in a statement on Sunday.
DISPLACED
Israel’s expanded operation has displaced more than 1.2 million people, according to Lebanon’s government, which says more than 2,100 people have been killed and 10,000 wounded in over a year of fighting. The toll does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but includes scores of women and children.
The fighting in the region has also drawn attacks from other Iran-backed militant groups such as Yemen’s Houthis and armed groups in Iraq, raising fears that the United States and Iran could be sucked into a full-scale conflict.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq said in a statement on Sunday it had targeted a military site in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights with drones in support of the Palestinians and Lebanon. It said it would continue escalating attacks against Israeli strongholds.
The war in Gaza began after a Hamas-led assault on Oct. 7, 2023, on southern Israeli communities in which 1,200 people were killed and about 250 were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, aimed at eliminating Hamas, has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, and has laid waste to the enclave.
In Gaza itself, Israel has been conducting a large scale assault on the northern part of the territory for more than a week.
