ISRAEL’s war cabinet has drawn up plans for a “strategic but painful” revenge attack following Iran’s unprecedented missile and drone blitz – but world leaders fear the outbreak of an “uncontrollable war”.
From a fighter blitz against Tehran’s nuclear facilities to strikes on IRGC bases or attacks on its regional terrorist proxies – The Sun pointed out five main ways Israel can choose to strike back at its enemy.
Last Saturday night, Iran attacked Israel with a wave of hundreds of ballistic, cruise missiles and drones – Tehran’s first direct attack on its enemy.
Israel’s Iron Dome defense system and its allies’ warplanes – including the UK’s RAF Typhoons – shot down 99 percent of the projectiles.
The airstrike was a major departure from what has been a long-running parallel war between the two states and raised the grim possibility of an all-out war across the region.
Israel promised a “significant response” in revenge for the 110 ballistic missiles, 36 cruise missiles and 185 attack drones – which Jerusalem saw as a “declaration of war”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called off an immediate retaliation after US President Joe Biden pressed for restraint and warned him to “think carefully” about his next move.
But Israel says it reserves the right to attack Iran “in a manner and at a time” of its choosing and has told the UN that Iran “crossed all red lines” in its attack.
Jonathan Conicus, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former IDF officer, said this is the “opening act” of Israel-Iran relations.
He told The Sun: “Iran has for the first time come out of the convenience and protection of the shadows and decided to confront Israel directly, and in doing so, of course, Iran also presents itself as a target.
“How will Israel retaliate? And how will Israel convey to the Iranians the message that they have definitely crossed a bridge too far?”
As the world prepares for Israel’s response, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told an emergency Security Council meeting on Sunday: “The Middle East is on the brink.
“The people of the region face a real danger of a devastating large-scale conflict. Now is the time to calm down and calm down.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak condemned Iran’s attack as “reckless” and called for calm, while a joint G7 statement earlier this week also called for caution, fearing a “catastrophic escalation”.
But the question on everyone’s lips is how Israel will choose to respond, whether it could attack Iran and what the scale or intensity would be.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
