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US expects "limited scope" Israeli response against Iran, sources say
From CNN’s Alex Marquardt and Natasha Bertrand
The United States expects that Israel’smilitaryresponse to Iran’s strikes will be limited in scope,a senior administration official and a source familiar with the intelligence told CNN.
There is USintelligenceto suggest Israel is weighing a narrow and limited strike inside Iran because they feel like they have to respond with a kinetic action of some kind given the unprecedented scale of the Iranian attack,the second source said.
Israel has not given the USan officialwarning about what their plans may beand when they could occur,the senior administration official said.
“We would hope that they would give us some warning so that we're prepared to protect our personnel, not just military but diplomatic throughout the region,” theadministration official said.
“But there's no guarantee they will give us they will give us a heads up and they know when they give us a head’s up, we're likely to again register our objection to whatever they're about to conduct.”
Theofficialalsosaid if Israel did not respond, the US is “confident that there will be de-escalation” and the situation would go back to the status quo.
“But any additional move now opens up a series of other possibilities, some of which are quite frightening,”the senior official added.
Israeli military chief thanks UK for "joint defensive effort" against Iranian attack
From CNN's Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv
A top Israeli military official expressed gratitude to his British counterpart for their "joint defensive effort" in repelling Iranian drones fired at Israel on Sunday.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi conveyed "his deep appreciation to the British forces for their cooperation and high-quality operation," according to an IDF statement.
Barrage of missiles: Israel and allied forces -- including the United States, France and the UK -- on Sunday intercepted a wave of Iranian strikes fired in retaliation to a suspected Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, in Syria, earlier this month.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been under increased domestic pressure to tone down his support of Israel's military campaign in Gaza and stop the sale of arms to the state, as the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks spirals.
Calls for Sunak to stop supplying Israel with weapons grew after an Israeli airstrike on April 1killed seven members of stafffrom the aid organization World Central Kitchen, three of whom wereBritish citizens.
Budget airline suspends services to Tel Aviv until late October
From CNN’s Maisie Linford
EasyJet has announced its suspension of flights to and from the Israeli city of Tel Aviv for the rest of the summer season, until October 27, the budget airline told CNN on Tuesday.
"Customers booked to fly on this route up to this date are being offered options including a full refund,”EasyJet’s press office told CNN via email.
The low-cost carrier initially announced flights to Israel would be canceled until April 21, amid conflict and escalating tensions in the Middle East.
Israel’s war cabinet is holding its fifth meeting on response to Iranian attack
From CNN’s Benjamin Brown
Israel’s war cabinet is convening Tuesday to discuss its response to Iran’s drone and missile attack, an Israeli official told CNN.
The meeting, which began 12:30 p.m. local time (5:30 a.m. ET), is the fifth set of talks held by the war cabinet since Sunday.
Tehran launched a series of strikes on Israel over the weekend, in response to a suspected Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, earlier this month.
The weekend's unprecedented attack from Iran was the first time it has ever fired directly at Israel from its soil, as regional tensions flare over Israel's military offensive in Gaza.
Iran’s president warns of a severe and painful response if its "interests" are targeted
From CNN’s Adam Pourahmadi and Mostafa Salem
President Ebrahim Raisi has warned that the “smallest action against Iran’s interests” will be met with a “severe, extensive and painful” response.
In a call with Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Monday, the president said that Iran's attack on Israel this weekend was an act of “legitimate defense.”
“As we have already officially announced the operation of the 'Honest Promise' was successfully carried out with the aim of punishing the aggressor. Now we firmly declare that the smallest action against Iran's interests will definitely be met with a severe, extensive and painful response against all its perpetrators,” Raisi said.
"Honest Promise" was the name given to Iran’s unprecedented attack, which saw drones and missiles launched at Israel over a five-hour period — almost entirely intercepted by the Israeli military and its allies. Israel hasvowedto respond and is weighing its options to do so.
In the call, Qatar “stressed the need to reduce all forms of escalation and avoid expanding the conflict in the region,” according to a statement run by state news agency Sheikh Tamim.
Israeli artist at Venice Biennale says she won’t open exhibit until hostage and ceasefire deal reached
From CNN’s Benjamin Brown in London
Artist Ruth Patir, Israel’s representative at the Venice Biennalein Italy, has said she won’t open her exhibit until a hostage and ceasefire deal has been reached.
She said the Israeli pavilion at the international cultural exhibition “will only open when the release of hostages and ceasefire agreement happens” in a statement shared on Instagram on Tuesday.
Patir said she would raise her voice “with those I stand with in their scream, ceasefire now, bring the people back from captivity. We can’t take it anymore.”
A petition signed by more than 23,000 people recently called for Israel to be excluded from the Venice Biennale.
Patir on Tuesday said that she and commissioners Mira Lapidot and Tamar Margalit had made headlines in recent weeks rather than the art and the exhibition titled "(M)otherland."
“If I am given such a remarkable stage, I want to make it count,” Patir said, adding that she “firmly objected” to cultural boycotts but chose to take action as she felt there was “no right answer.”
Protests against Israel's war in Gaza have taken place at various cultural events, including this year's Oscars and the Grammy's.
Analysis: Israel faces dilemma in response to Iran’s attack
Analysis byCNN's Nadeen EbrahimandJeremy Diamond
Israel has yet to agree on how to respond to theIranian attack that sawmore than 300 projectilesfired at its territory in the first direct military confrontation between the Islamic Republic and the Jewish state.
Israel must balance international pressure to show restraint on the one hand while searching for an appropriate response to an unprecedented attack.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu now has to weigh his right-wing coalition’s call for a strong reaction against the risk of further international isolation for Israel bywidening the war withoutinternational support.
Despite pressure from allies not to escalate, Israel’s war cabinet is now debating the timing and scope of the response, two Israeli officials familiar with the deliberations told CNN.
Analysts say that Israel has few options, and each of those options comes with a price, especially as it is already embroiled in a brutal six-month war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip and is confronting various Iran-backed militants in the region.
A direct attack on Iran would set yet another precedent. While Israel is believed to have conducted covert operations in Iran over the years, often targeting individuals or facilities seen as a threat to its security, it has never launched a direct military assault on Iranian territory.
“We are definitely in a new phase, and a very dangerous phase of the Israeli-Iranian confrontation,” said Raz Zimmt, an Iran expert at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv. “Iran has certainly tried to change the rules of the game with Israel… We might expect more rounds of direct attacks in the future.”
Read the full analysis.
US Defense Secretary and Israeli counterpart discuss aftermath of Iran attack
From CNN's Colin McCullough
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke to his Israeli counterpart Monday and “reaffirmed the strategic goal of regional stability,” according to a readout of the call.
AustinandIsraeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallantdiscussed the aftermath of Iran’sunprecedented attack on Israel over the weekend, the readout said.
The secretaryalso reiterated “steadfast” US support for Israel’s defense.
Some context: Israel's war cabinet is weighing a response toIran's attack, which sawmore than 300 projectilesfired at its territory — most of which were intercepted.
Austin previously asked Gallant to notify the US ahead of any potential response to the Iranian attack, according to a US official.
The two had spoken hours after Iran had launched a barrage of drones and missiles at Israel.
It's morning in the Middle East. Catch up here
From CNN Staff
Israel was set to take its first steps toward aground offensive in Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah this week but has delayed those plans as it mulls a response to Iran’s unprecedented aerial attacks over the weekend, two Israeli sources have told CNN.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long stressed the importance of invading Rafah to dismantle Hamas’s remaining battalions, despite international pressure to call off an all-out ground offensive.
But a military response to Iran could pull Israel's attention and resources away from Gaza.
Here are the latest developments in the region:
- Israel weighs response to Iran: The Israeli war cabinet has reviewed military plans for a potential response to Iran's attacks, an official said. The cabinet also reviewed diplomatic options, which could be carried out in addition to a military response. It is not clear if a decision has been made.
- White House urges de-escalation: US President Joe Biden is focusing on preventing Iran's attack from spiraling into a wider regional conflict, spokesperson John Kirby said.
- China's reaction: China saidit notedIran’sstatement that the actions againstIsraelwerean “exercise of the right of self-defense” during a phone call between the foreign ministers of the two nations, and did not condemn the weekend strikes.
- Al-Shifa aftermath: Fifteen more bodies were recovered from around Al-Shifa Hospital following the withdrawal of the Israeli military from the area two weeks ago, Gaza residents and medical crews told CNN.
- Hostage talks: Hamas has slashed the number of hostages it is willing to release during the first phase of a ceasefire deal by more than half, an Israeli source said. This represents a significant step backward in the talks.
