Israel considered 'swift' retaliatory strikes against Iran: Reports

Israeli and American media outlets reported Wednesday night that Israel had considered swiftly launching retaliatory strikes against Tehran in response to the unprecedented Iranian bombardment of its territories last weekend. However, it ultimately backed away from this course of action.

Israel's state-owned "Kan" television channel reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided, following a conversation with US President Joe Biden, not to execute previously approved plans for retaliatory strikes against Tehran in the event of it carrying out its threat to attack the Israeli state.

The channel quoted a senior official, who requested anonymity, as saying, "Diplomatic sensitivities played a role [...] There will definitely be a response, but it will be different from what was initially planned."

Similarly, the American news site Axios cited unnamed Israeli sources as saying that during Monday's meeting of the Israeli War Cabinet, the second meeting since the Iranian bombardment, ministers extensively discussed the possibility of issuing the order to carry out retaliatory strikes, but ultimately did not do so.

Axios also quoted a US official as saying, "We are not sure why and how close it was to an actual attack [against Iran]."

According to the same site, Israel informed the US administration on Monday that it had decided to postpone a strike against Iran.

Meanwhile, the American news network ABC News reported that the Israeli government had considered launching strikes against Iran on two occasions but did not issue an order to do so.

However, Netanyahu reiterated Wednesday that Israel "reserves the right to defend itself" in the face of international pressure on his government to avoid striking Iran, which threatens to escalate tensions further amidst the war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

In turn, Tehran reiterated Wednesday its insistence that any Israeli response would be met with a "harsh and violent" response.

AFP