Israel considered carrying out a strike on Iran in retaliation for last weekend’s attack, but aborted the plan, Israeli and US media reported.
Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles against Israel over the weekend in an attack that caused little damage after most of the projectiles were intercepted.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to respond to the attack, prompting global powers to call for restraint to avoid any further escalation.
Photo: Reuters
Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported that following discussions with US President Joe Biden, Netanyahu decided not to proceed with pre-arranged plans for retaliatory strikes on Iran in the event of an attack.
“Diplomatic sensitivities came into play,” a senior Israeli official speaking on condition of anonymity told Kan, adding that there would be a response, but that it would be different from what was initially planned.
“Israel prepared for and then aborted retaliatory strikes against Iran on at least two nights this past week,” ABC News reported, citing three unnamed Israeli sources.
Among the range of possible reactions considered by the Israeli war Cabinet were options to attack Iranian proxies elsewhere in the region or to conduct a cyberattack, the sources told ABC.
At a Cabinet meeting on Monday, Israeli officials considered giving the Israel Defense Forces permission for a strike against Iran, but “for operational reasons” decided not to go ahead with it, two unnamed Israeli officials told US news firm Axios.
In New York, Iran’s top diplomat on Wednesday said that his country has told the US it is not seeking escalation.
Iran has “tried to tell the United States clearly” that Iran is “not looking for the expansion of tension in the region,” Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who is in New York to attend a UN Security Council meeting, said in a video posted by his ministry.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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