Laying Plans

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Israel is planning targeted strikes on Iran’s military facilities, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Biden administration this week, a move officials say is aimed at preventing further regional escalation, minimizing the conflict’s impact on global markets and the upcoming presidential elections in the United States, the Washington Post reported.

According to officials familiar with the matter, Netanyahu said that Israel’s response would focus specifically on military infrastructure while avoiding oil or nuclear sites. The decision marks a shift from Israel’s past strategy, with Netanyahu seeking to balance his country’s security interests and the United States’ preference for a calibrated approach.

Israeli officials hinted that the strike on Iran will occur before the Nov. 5 US elections.

The planned strike is seen as a retaliatory measure by Israel two weeks after Iran launched nearly 200 missiles at the Middle East state, hitting two Israeli military installations and killing one Palestinian man in the West Bank.

That attack – the second in six months – came after Israel conducted successful operations against Tehran and its proxies, including the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah in Lebanon.

Israel is preparing for the strike on Iran even as it wages war along its northern border with Lebanon.

In southern Lebanon, the United Nations announced that its peacekeeping force, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), will remain in place despite repeated calls from Israel for its withdrawal, NBC News wrote.

UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix confirmed Monday that UNIFIL would continue its presence along the Israel-Lebanon border, where clashes between Israeli troops and the Iran-backed Hezbollah have intensified since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw more than 250 taken hostage.

UNIFIL has been caught in the crossfire in recent weeks, with four peacekeepers injured after Israeli forces fired on their positions. Relations between Israel and the UN have also soured in recent months, with Jerusalem accusing UN agencies, including the agency helping Palestinian refugees, of aiding Hamas. It has deemed UN Secretary-General António Guterres persona non grata and banned him from Israel.

Even so, the UN Security Council and contributing member states have reaffirmed support for UNIFIL’s presence, condemning the recent attacks and urging Israel to ensure the safety of peacekeeping forces.

Meanwhile, Israel is also continuing its offensive against Hamas.

On Tuesday, airstrikes killed at least 50 Palestinians across the territory, with reports from Palestinian health authorities indicating that dozens more were injured or missing as troops closed in on the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, Reuters added.

Israel has called for residents in the northern region to evacuate, even though the United Nations estimates that around 400,000 people remain in the area with no safe place to go.

Health officials in Hamas-controlled Gaza say more than 42,000 people in the enclave have been killed in the war since it began last fall.

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