Israel prepares for possible US-Iran escalation next week – report
Israel is preparing for a possible escalation in the exchange of fire between the United States and Iran next week following recent remarks by US President Donald Trump and ongoing diplomatic developments, Channel 12 reports.
According to the report, Israel believes the US may begin targeting Iranian civilian infrastructure, in line with Trump’s recent comments. Until now, US strikes have been focused primarily on Iranian military infrastructure.
Trump told Fox News in an interview that aired Tuesday night on “Special Report with Bret Baier”: “We’re going to hit them very hard tonight. We’re going to hit them very hard tomorrow night. We’re going to hit them very hard the night after, and then next week it gets really bad for them because next week comes the power plants. Next week comes the bridges. We’re going to knock out all their power plants. We’re going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate.”
He added: “I’ll save the energy targets for last, but ultimately we’ll hit energy targets.”
A senior Israeli official says Israel is “preparing for an escalation of the confrontation and is ready for any scenario affecting Israel,” while emphasizing that current assessments remain that the conflict is still limited and that Israel is not a direct party to it.
Channel 12 also reports, citing two Arab diplomats, that Qatar has submitted a new proposal to Washington and Tehran aimed at resuming negotiations between the two countries and reducing tensions. According to the report, Iranian officials view the proposal as relatively favorable to their position, and attacks on Qatar have reportedly ceased since the proposal was presented.