According to NBC reports, US officials believe Israel will target Iran’s military and energy sites

U.S. officials believe Israel has narrowed the targets of its possible response to Iran’s attack on military and energy infrastructure this month, NBC reported Saturday.

The Middle East remains on high alert for further escalation in a year of war in which Israel is fighting the Iranian-backed groups Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Tehran, a major oil producer, has threatened Israel with serious consequences if it attacks the Islamic Republic.

Israel has repeatedly said it would respond to Iran’s rocket fire on October 1, which was fired in retaliation for Israel’s military operations in Gaza and Lebanon and the killing of a number of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.

There are no signs that Israel will target nuclear facilities or carry out assassinations, the NBC report said, citing unnamed U.S. officials, adding that Israel has not yet made final decisions about how and when to act.

According to the report, U.S. and Israeli officials said a response could occur during the current Yom Kippur holiday. Israeli officials have not publicly commented on the report.

The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah militants erupted a year ago when Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel at the start of the Gaza war, and has escalated sharply in recent weeks.

The Israeli military said it continued to operate in southern Lebanon to dismantle Hezbollah’s infrastructure.

“Over the past day, the IAF (Air Force) struck about 200 Hezbollah targets deep in Lebanon and southern Lebanon, including terrorist cells, launch pads, anti-tank missile posts and terrorist infrastructure sites,” it said.

Israel also said five launches from Lebanon were intercepted by its air force.

The Israeli military added in a statement on Sunday that one of its reservists and an officer were seriously injured and other soldiers suffered minor to moderate injuries in two separate incidents during fighting in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli military also said it captured a Hezbollah fighter in southern Lebanon after discovering an underground tunnel leading to a hideout where they found an area with weapons and supplies for extended use.

Hezbollah announced a rocket attack on the Tirat HaCarmel transport base in southern Haifa in a statement on Sunday.

UN peacekeepers

Israel has stepped up military operations in recent weeks, bombing southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs and the Bekaa Valley, killing many of Hezbollah’s top leaders and sending ground troops across the border.

Hezbollah, for its part, has fired rockets deeper into Israel.

According to the Lebanese government, Israel’s expanded operation has displaced more than 1.2 million people. In over a year of fighting, more than 2,100 people were killed and 10,000 injured. The number of victims does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but also includes numerous women and children.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin expressed “deep concern” in a phone call with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Saturday about reports that Israeli forces had fired on U.N. peacekeeping positions in Lebanon in recent days and called on Israel to ensure security for them and to ensure the Lebanese military, the Pentagon said.

According to the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission, five peacekeepers have been injured in three separate incidents since Thursday.

The fighting in the region, involving all militant groups allied with Tehran – Hezbollah, the Houthis in Yemen and armed groups in Iraq – has raised fears that the United States and Iran are being drawn into a wider conflict in the oil-producing Middle East become.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq said in a statement on Sunday that it had attacked a military site in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights with drones as part of its support for the Palestinian people and Lebanon. It was said that attacks on Israeli strongholds would continue to escalate.

The war in Gaza began after a Hamas-led attack on southern Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, in which, according to Israel, 1,200 people were killed and about 250 were taken hostage. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the Israeli military campaign in Gaza aimed at destroying Hamas has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians and devastated the enclave.