Middle East conflict live updates: Israel’s military chief warns that Iran will ‘face consequences’ for attack

As Israel weighs its response to Iran’s unprecedented attack, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said “Iran will face the consequences for its actions,” without providing further details. The Biden administration said the United States would not participate in any Israeli reprisal, while world leaders urged Israel to exercise restraint.

Here’s what to know

• Israel’s war cabinet reconvened Monday to discuss its response to the Iranian attack, government spokesman David Mencer said, adding that “Israel retains all its options.” Halevi said Israel was closely assessing the situation and “will choose our response accordingly.”
• National Security Council spokesman John Kirby described speculation that Iran’s attack was meant to fail as “categorically false” and “malarkey,” in a White House news briefing. “This attack failed because it was defeated by Israel [and] the United States,” Kirby said. He also denied that Iran had given Israel or the United States advance warning of its attack.
• Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s spokesman for Arab media, warned Gaza residents to avoid returning to the north of the Strip, saying the area remained “a dangerous combat zone.”
• Negotiations on a cease-fire deal in Gaza have stalled. Over the weekend, Hamas rejected the latest Israeli offer for a pause in its offensive in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza since Oct. 7. In a statement, Hamas said again that it wants a permanent cease-fire and a withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
• At least 33,797 people have been killed and 76,465 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority of the dead are women and children.
• Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, including more than 300 soldiers, and says 260 soldiers have been killed since its military operation in Gaza began.

1:58 AM: Wave of pro-Palestinian protests closes bridges, major roads across U.S.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators blocked roads, highways and bridges across the country on Monday, snarling traffic and sparking arrests from coast to coast in what some activists declared to be a coordinated day of economic blockade to push leaders for a cease-fire in Gaza.

The disruption appeared to span the country over several hours. Protesters in San Francisco parked vehicles on the Golden Gate Bridge, stopping traffic in both directions for four hours Monday morning, while hundreds of demonstrators blocked a highway in nearby Oakland, some by chaining themselves to drums of cement, California Highway Patrol representatives told The Washington Post.

Some protesters headed toward a Tesla factory in Fremont, Calif., according to local TV station KRON4. In New York, dozens of protesters stopped traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge and held demonstrations on Wall Street, according to ABC7.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrations were also reported in Philadelphia, Chicago, Miami and San Antonio. Demonstrators’ targets ranged from major highways such as Interstate 5 in Eugene, Ore., to a countryside road leading to an aircraft engine manufacturer in Middletown, Conn.

Read the full story

By: Daniel Wu and Niha Masih

1:58 AM: Israel weighs strike on Iran to ‘send a message’ while preserving alliance

Middle East conflict live updates: Israel’s military chief warns that Iran will ‘face consequences’ for attack

JERUSALEM — Israel’s war cabinet deliberated Monday how to respond to Iran’s unprecedented aerial assault without rankling allies and squandering an opportunity to build an international alliance against Tehran.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked the Israel Defense Forces to provide a target list, according to an official familiar with high-level discussions, who said Israel is mulling retaliation that would “send a message” but not cause casualties.

The options include a potential strike on a facility in Tehran or a cyberattack, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.

“Everybody agrees that Israel must respond,” the official said. “How to respond, when to respond, is the question.”

The United States, the United Nations, and Israel’s European and regional allies have all called for restraint following the Iranian barrage of more than 300 drones and missiles overnight Saturday.

The five-hour, carefully choreographed onslaught — in response to an Israeli strike on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria that killed two senior commanders this month — caused limited damage after being repelled by an international alliance including the United States, France and Britain, with assistance from some countries in the Middle East.

The expansive security cooperation stood in contrast to Israel’s recent isolation over the civilian toll of its war against Hamas in Gaza, and gave the country what analysts described as a rare chance to assemble an anti-Iran coalition.

Read the full story

By: Steve Hendrix, Loveday Morris and Shira Rubin