Israel’s defense minister is set to travel to Washington as the country weighs how to respond to an Iranian missile attack a week ago and steps up its military operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Yoav Gallant will discuss “ongoing Middle East security developments” with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday, the Pentagon said. As well as considering a riposte to Tehran, Israel is engaged in ever-broader warfare with Iran-backed Hezbollah, adding more ground troops and maritime forces.
U.S. President Joe Biden has urged Israel not to attack Iran’s nuclear program or oil infrastructure, amid concerns either move could trigger a wider war that drags in Washington, pushes up energy prices and hits the global economy.
The U.S. and its allies have been coordinating communications to convince Israel to focus instead on military targets, according to people familiar with the matter. Hitting energy infrastructure would be unacceptable for some, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Iran made “a big mistake” and will “pay for it,” though a response has yet to come. The barrage of 200 ballistic missiles caused little damage, with one fatality in the West Bank, but millions of Israelis were forced into shelters and some air bases were hit.
“If Gallant is due in U.S. this week, it’s clear Israel’s response against Iran has been delayed,” Aaron David Miller, a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Senior Fellow and former State Department Arab-Israeli negotiator, said on X. “The complexities of escalation and the need to convince — and perhaps coordinate — Israel’s response with the U.S. seem to be top of mind.”
Iran says any retaliation will be met with a more powerful assault. “We advise Israel not to test our will,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tuesday in a speech in Tehran, ahead of a regional tour of countries including Saudi Arabia to boost efforts to reign in Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon.
Central Intelligence Agency head William Burns said Monday there’s a “real danger of a further regional escalation” and the Israeli leadership is taking into account the White House’s concerns. Yet Netanyahu hasn’t shown a willingness to follow U.S. advice in the various conflicts to date, ignoring calls from Washington for a cease-fire in Lebanon ahead of the assassination of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah last month.
The U.S. has similarly failed to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza after months of on-off talks.
The standoff between Israel and Iran — arch-foes in the region — comes as fighting escalates on multiple fronts a year after Hamas militants launched a deadly attack on southern Israel, triggering the ongoing war in Gaza.
The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday a fourth army division is being deployed into Lebanon a week after the start of a ground operation against Hezbollah, the most powerful of Tehran’s allied militias. Israeli jets have carried out a heavy bombardment of Beirut suburbs and other areas, and have eliminated most of Hezbollah’s leaders.
An Israeli military spokesman warned on X that Lebanese civilians should avoid the coastline south of the Awali River, about half way between Beirut and the Israeli border, due to maritime operations against the militant group.
Hezbollah’s deputy chief Naim Qasem said that, while the group supports efforts to secure a cease-fire, it isn’t backing down.
““What’s been said by the enemy about our capabilities is an illusion,” he said in a televised address. “Our fighters are on the front, we’re solid.”
The IDF said about 135 projectiles were fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon into Israel on Tuesday, while TV footage showed rocket fire over Haifa. A municipality spokesperson said the attack was the biggest so far on the country’s third-biggest city.
More than 1,500 people have been killed in Lebanon by Israel’s bombings in recent weeks and around one million have been displaced, according to local officials. The IDF says 10 soldiers have died in the campaign, which Netanyahu has said is essential to return displaced Israelis to their homes in northern communities.
Israel said Monday it intercepted most of a barrage of rockets fired by Hamas toward Tel Aviv. Israel bombed a number of targets in Gaza on the same day.
The U.S. and many of its allies consider Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist groups.
In a sign that opinion inside Israel is hardening, opposition leader Yair Lapid said the country should ignore U.S. objections and strike oil facilities in Iran, an OPEC member that exports 1.7 million barrels of crude a day.
“This is Iran’s Achilles’ heel, a blow to its economy — the Iranian economy is in a very precarious state,” Lapid, a former prime minister, told the public broadcaster Kan. The government should tell its U.S. allies that “Israel has its own interests,” he said.
