Netanyahu will only strike military targets in Iran, reports say

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told the Biden administration that Israel will only strike military targets in a counterstrike against Iran, reported the Washington Post, citing two officials familiar with the matter.

Netanyahu’s comments come after the US publicly warned him that it would not support a counterstrike on Iran’s nuclear or oil facilities, and indicate the Israeli leader is willing to mount a more limited operation.

According to officials, US President Joe Biden used a call last Wednesday — the men’s first in several weeks — to congratulate Netanyahu on the “intense and determined operations that Israel carried out against Hezbollah”.

But Biden has stopped short of approving a counterstrike on Iran that would hit nuclear sites. When asked earlier this month if he would accept such a move, he said “the answer is no”.

The officials familiar with the matter said that Netanyahu confirmed Israel would only strike military targets.

Iran fired around 180 missiles into Israel on 1 October after Israel intensified its airstrikes across Lebanon, killing numerous senior commanders of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah — including its leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to respond in kind to the ensuing Iranian ballistic missile barrage. However, he has not confirmed when or how he will begin what could amount to a major escalation of the spiralling conflict in the Middle East.

Biden, who has explicitly called for a ceasefire in the region, is said to fear the economic repercussions of a strike on Iran oil facilities, and specifically the knock-on effect an oil price spike might have on the upcoming US presidential election.

After the Biden-Netanyahu call, the US announced it would be sending a Terminal High Altitude Area Defence battery and an operating team to Israel in order to bolster the country’s missile defences.

Israel is still expanding its operations in Lebanon, sending troops into the country’s south in a campaign it says is necessary to defeat Hezbollah. The UN has accused it of illegally entering a peacekeeping base with tanks.

Israel has also ramped up its offensive in northern Gaza back up, issuing a renewed order for civilians to evacuate in order to empty the zone of everyone but Hamas fighters.

NGOs and various governments have warned that the move risks trapping and starving civilians in the area who cannot safely leave their homes.