Israeli Prime Minister , Benjamin Netanyahu , asserted the land is free to act as it chooses in a counter-strike against , Iran , after a review suggesting his government is heeding , U. S.  , pleas to keep radioactive and power facilities off its goal list to reduce the risk of escalation.
” We listen to the thoughts of , the United States, but we will make our final decisions based on our national pursuits”, Netanyahu’s business said Tuesday.
Israel , and the , U. S.  , have been conferring often on how to fight for Iran ‘s , Oct. 1 , ballistic-missile volley, a problem that’s shaken nerves across the , Middle East , and in power markets. The controversy has tested the connection between Netanyahu and , U. S.  , President , Joe Biden, who has sought repeatedly to secure a cease-fire in the region’s problems with , Iran-backed , Hamas , in , Gaza , and , Hezbollah , in , Lebanon.
A document in the , Washington Post , said the Jewish leading had agreed to reduce the reaction to military goals. The paper cited two government officials who were well-versed in the subject, but they declined to be identified.
In a display of continued , U. S.  , help,  , Israel , has received primary components of a , U. S. supplied and operated weapon weapon known as THAAD as well as an improve group of an eventual 100 British soldiers needed to operate it, according to the Pentagon. That program would help protect against ballistic-missile attacks, although some Jewish analysts have said the implementation may also inhibit Israel’s ability to act only against , Iran.
More resolute Israelis may not agree with a decision to restrict a reaction to Iranian military targets. ” We have an opportunity to cut off the head of the snake”, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir told Army Radio, in research to , Iran. He declined to give information on closed-door government discussion.
A big increase in , Israel-Iran , hostilities may overwhelm the broader area in turmoil and have implications for crude prices and the result of the , U. S.  , national elections on , Nov. 5. Oil plunged after the report that , Israel , may avoid targeting Iran’s crude infrastructure, as traders switched focus to the International Energy Agency’s expectations of a sizable glut early next year.
Israel’s response to the Iranian missile attack will be “precise, painful, and surprising”, Defense Minister , Yoav Gallant , said Monday, adding that , Israel , has no interest in opening additional fronts.
Meanwhile, Israeli tanks and troops are continuing their invasion of southern , Lebanon , in an attempt to root out Iranian-backed , Hezbollah , militants, while the air force pummels the country’s interior.
Lebanese authorities said Monday an Israeli airstrike killed 21 people in a remote region with a Christian-majority population, well away from the , Hezbollah , heartland.
Israel , said it struck , Hezbollah , and is assessing reports of civilian casualties. At least 1, 600 people have been killed since , Israel , started its air campaign to target , Hezbollah , in , Lebanon , nearly a month ago, according to health officials there.
Hezbollah, which killed four soldiers at an Israeli base with a drone strike on Sunday, is keeping up its attacks. On Tuesday, sirens sounded in and around the northern Israeli port city of , Haifa, sending hundreds of thousands of people running to shelters. The Israeli military said about 20 projectiles were launched from , Lebanon, though some were shot down.
Hezbollah’s deputy leader,  , Naim Qasem, said the group will not relent in efforts to target both Israeli military positions and the country as a whole. The group is open to a cease-fire but is” not speaking from a point of weakness”, he said in a televised address, underlining the sense that , Hezbollah , remains a potent force despite weeks of Israeli airstrikes and the assassination of its leader,  , Hassan Nasrallah.
According to Qasem,” after a cease-fire and according to an indirect agreement, the residents can go back to the north,” referring to the tens of thousands of Israelis who have been displaced from communities close to the Lebanese border.
Israel , has started to see attacks within its borders.  , Israel Police , said one officer was killed and four other people wounded by a gunman on a highway south of , Tel Aviv. The incident was classified as terrorism, the police said, adding that the gunman had been shot dead. According to a , Hamas-affiliated Palestinian newspaper, the gunman was Mohammed Dardouna, a Gazan who had a work permit in , Israel , and has been in the country since before the , Hamas , attack of , Oct. 7, 2023.
While , Israel , has overrun , Hamas , in the Palestinian territory of , Gaza, it has staged new ground and airstrikes in what it says is an attempt to stop the Islamist militants regrouping. The health ministry in , Hamas-run , Gaza , said 55 people have been killed in the past 24 hours.
Both , Hezbollah , and , Hamas , are designated terrorist groups by the , U. S.  , and other countries.
Iran’s foreign minister has toured regional countries over the past week to urge” a common understanding” on the crisis, according to a statement.  , Abbas Araghchi , visited counterparts in , Saudi Arabia,  , Qatar,  , Iraq , and , Oman, as well as meeting with an official from the , Yemen-based , Houthis , and holding a call with China ‘s , Foreign Ministry.
Iran , has repeatedly called on Gulf Arab states to cut ties with , Israel , over the war in , Gaza, which has devastated the Palestinian territory after more than a year of fighting.
The head of the country ‘s , Quds Force, the branch of the , Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps , responsible for foreign operations, made his first public appearance in weeks early Tuesday. It followed reports he was in , Beirut , during an Israeli air strike last month.
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