The Israeli military is in the midst of planning a response to Iran’s Tuesday night ballistic missile attack, and warned on Saturday that it would be “serious and significant.”
The Israel Defense Forces has said that Iran’s attack of some 200 ballistic missiles on the country would “have consequences.”
The attack caused damage in Israel, including in Israeli airbases, though the military has said that no aircraft or critical infrastructure were hit, and the Israeli Air Force was operating at full capacity.
The military on Saturday said that the response to the Iranian missile attack would be “serious and significant,” and that it was devoting much of its time to planning it.
On Wednesday, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said that Israel would respond to the missile attack, vowing that the military could “reach and strike any point in the Middle East.” The military plans will need to be approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
At a security cabinet meeting in a secure bunker near Jerusalem in the aftermath of the attack, Netanyahu warned that Tehran had made a “big mistake tonight” and vowed that “it will pay for it.”
The comments on Saturday from the IDF come as the US has sought to dissuade Israel from hitting Iranian nuclear or oil infrastructure as part of the response. US President Joe Biden on Friday said Israel has not yet decided how it’s going to respond to Iran’s ballistic missile assault, but suggested it should refrain from attacking Iranian oil facilities.
“If I were in their shoes, I’d be thinking about other alternatives than striking oil fields,” Biden said during a rare appearance at the White House daily press briefing. Earlier this week, Biden said he opposed Israel targeting Iranian nuclear sites as well.
Biden’s latest remarks came a day after he said the idea of an Israeli strike on Iranian oil sites was “in discussion,” causing oil prices to shoot up amid fears of a sudden shock to the global supply.
However, on Saturday, Iran’s oil minister Mohsen Paknejad said that he was “not worried” about the escalating conflict in the region amid reports that Israel would strike Iran, the ministry’s Shana news site said.
Paknejad’s comments were made during a visit to Assaluyeh, the energy capital of Iran.




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