Israeli officials said Netanyahu’s five-member war cabinet favoured retaliation in a meeting on Sunday,although the panel was divided over the timing and scale of any such response.

Two senior Israeli ministers signalled retaliation was not imminent and that Israel would not act alone.

“We will build a regional coalition and exact the price from Iran in the fashion and timing that is right for us,” centrist minister Benny Gantz said ahead of a war cabinet meeting.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant also said Israel had an opportunity to form a strategic alliance “against this grave threat by Iran.”

Israel remained on high alert,but authorities lifted some emergency measures that had included a ban on some school activities and caps on large gatherings.

Iranian army chief of staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri said on television,“Our response will be much larger than tonight’s military action if Israel retaliates against Iran,” and told Washington that its bases could also be attacked if it helped Israel retaliate.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said Tehran had informed the United States its attack on Israel would be limited and for self-defence and that regional neighbours had been informed of its planned strikes 72 hours in advance.

Turkish,Jordanian and Iraqi officials said that Iran gave wide notice days before the attack,but US officials said Tehran did not warn Washington and was aiming to cause significant damage.

The leaders of the Group of 7 nations condemned Iran’s attack and said they would work to stabilise the situation,warning in a statement that Tehran risked “an uncontrollable regional escalation.”

Motivations for attack debated

Analysts debated whether Iran’s attack was calibrated to cause genuine devastation in Israel,or to save face at home after vows of revenge while avoiding a major new war.

“I think the Iranians took into consideration the fact that Israel has a very,very strong multi-layer anti-missile system and they probably took into consideration that there will not be too many casualties,” said Sima Shine,a former senior Mossad official at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.

In Gaza,Iran’s attack drew applause as rare payback for an Israeli offensive that has killed at least 33,000 people.

“We have been slaughtered for over six months and no one dared to do anything. Now Iran,after its consulate was hit,is hitting back at Israel and this brings joy into our hearts,” said Majed Abu Hamza of Gaza City.

The war in Gaza,which Israel invaded after an attack by Iran-backed Hamas on October 7,has spread to fronts with Iran-aligned groups in Lebanon,Syria,Yemen and Iraq.

In Israel,although there was alarm at the first direct attack from another country in more than three decades,the mood contrasted with the trauma after the Hamas-led attack on October 7.

“I think we’ve been given license to respond now. I mean it was a major attack from Iran... I imagine Israel will respond and may be over quickly and get back to normal life,” said Jeremy Smith,60.

In Iran,state television showed small gatherings in several cities celebrating the attack,but in private some Iranians were worried about Israel’s response.

“Iran gave Netanyahu a golden opportunity to attack our country. But we,the people of Iran,will bear the brunt of this conflict,” said Shima,a nurse,from Tehran.

Reuters

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