BEIRUT
\nU.S. officials believe Israel has narrowed down targets in its potential response to Iran\u2019s attack this month to military and energy infrastructure, NBC reported on Saturday.
\nThe Middle East remains on high alert for further escalation in a year of war as Israel battles Iran-backed groups Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. Tehran, a major oil producer, has threatened Israel with severe consequences if the Islamic Republic is attacked.
\nIsrael has repeatedly said it will respond to Iran\u2019s missile barrage on Oct. 1, which was launched in retaliation for Israel\u2019s military operations in Gaza and Lebanon and the killings of a string of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.
\nThere is no indication that Israel will target nuclear facilities or carry out assassinations, the NBC report said, citing unnamed U.S. officials and adding that Israel has not made final decisions about how and when to act.
\nU.S. and Israeli officials said a response could come during the current Yom Kippur holiday, according to the report.
\nIsraeli officials have not publicly commented on the report.
\nThe conflict between Israel and Hezbollah militants erupted a year ago when Hezbollah began launching rockets at northern Israel at the start of the Gaza war, and has sharply escalated in recent weeks.
\nIsrael\u2019s military said it continues to operate in southern Lebanon to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure.
\n\u201cOver the past day, the IAF (air force) has struck approximately 200 Hezbollah targets deep in Lebanon and southern Lebanon, including terrorist cells, launchers, anti-tank missile posts, and terrorist infrastructure sites,\u201d it said.
\nIsrael also said five launches that crossed from Lebanon were intercepted by the air force.
\nThe Israeli military added in a statement on Sunday that one of its reservists and an officer were severely injured in two separate incidents during combat in southern Lebanon, with additional soldiers suffering light to moderate injuries.
\nThe Israeli military also said that it captured a Hezbollah militant in southern Lebanon after discovering an underground tunnel leading to a hideout, where they found an area with weapons and supplies for extended use.
\nHezbollah announced a rocket strike on the Tirat HaCarmel transport base in southern Haifa, in a statement on Sunday.
\nUN PEACEKEEPERS
\nIsrael has intensified its military operations in recent weeks, bombing southern Lebanon, Beirut\u2019s southern suburbs and the Bekaa Valley, killing many of Hezbollah\u2019s top leaders, and sending ground troops across the border.
\nHezbollah for its part has fired rockets deeper into Israel.
\nIsrael\u2019s expanded operation has displaced more than 1.2 million people, according to Lebanon\u2019s government, which says more than 2,100 people have been killed and 10,000 wounded in over a year of fighting. The toll does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but includes scores of women and children.
\nU.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in a call with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Saturday, expressed \u201cdeep concern\u201d about reports that Israeli forces had fired on U.N. peacekeeping positions in Lebanon in recent days and urged Israel to ensure safety for them and the Lebanese military, the Pentagon said.
\nFive peacekeepers have been injured in three separate incidents since Thursday, the peacekeeping mission UNIFIL has said.
\nThe fighting in the region which includes all of Tehran\u2019s allied militant groups \u2014 Hezbollah, Yemen\u2019s Houthis and armed groups in Iraq \u2014 has raised fears that the United States and Iran will be sucked into a full-scale conflict in the oil-producing Middle East.
\nThe Islamic Resistance in Iraq said in a statement on Sunday it had targeted a military site in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights with drones as part of its support of the Palestinian people and Lebanon. It said it would continue escalating attacks against Israeli strongholds.
\nThe war in Gaza began after a Hamas-led assault on Oct. 7, 2023, on southern Israeli communities in which 1,200 people were killed and about 250 were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
\nIsrael\u2019s military campaign in Gaza, aimed at eliminating Hamas, has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza\u2019s health ministry, and has laid waste to the enclave.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BEIRUT U.S. officials believe Israel has narrowed down targets in its potential response to Iran\u2019s attack this month to military and energy infrastructure, NBC reported on Saturday. The Middle East remains on high alert for further escalation in a year of war as Israel battles Iran-backed groups Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. Tehran, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":437093,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-437088","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n