Netanyahu Dismisses Restraint Calls, Israel to Chart Its Course After Iran Attack

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Wednesday that Israel would decide whether and how to respond to Iran's major air assault earlier this week, disregarding calls for restraint from close allies. Israel has not specified when or how it will retaliate to Iran's attack, causing the region to brace for further escalation after months of unrest linked to the ongoing war in Gaza. Israel's allies, including the British and German foreign ministers, have urged restraint since the attack.Iran's president warned that even the "tiniest" invasion of its territory would bring a "massive and harsh" response. Violence surged on Wednesday between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, which fired rockets on northern Israel, wounding at least 14 Israeli soldiers. Netanyahu said Israel would make its own decision on how to respond despite advice from allies such as the US, UK, and France.Israel is unlikely to attack Iran directly without support from its top ally, the US. However, it could resort to covert methods such as targeting senior Iranian commanders or Iran-backed groups in other countries or launching a cyber attack. The heightened tensions make it unclear how Iran might respond, and any miscalculation by either side risks setting off a regional war.The Biden administration announced new sanctions on Iran on Tuesday and has worked to coordinate a global rebuke of the attack while urging all sides to de-escalate. US officials said earlier this week that Biden told Netanyahu that Washington would not participate in any offensive action against Iran.Iran launched hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel over the weekend in response to an apparent Israeli strike on Iran's embassy compound in Syria on April 1 that killed 12 people, including two Iranian generals. Israel says it and its partners successfully intercepted nearly all the missiles and drones. The attack wounded a 7-year-old girl but did not cause any deaths or major damage.Israel and Iran have waged a shadow war for decades, but the strike over the weekend was the first direct Iranian military attack on Israel. With tensions surging, Israel's allies have reinforced a message of restraint. British Foreign Secretary David Cameron and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock each appealed for calm during separate visits to the region.Cameron said he hoped Israel would act "in a way that is smart as well as tough and also does as little as possible to escalate this conflict." Baerbock called for restraint while expressing Germany's full solidarity with Israel.The ministers said they would push for further international sanctions on Iran. Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi warned Israel against any retaliation during an annual army parade.Regional tensions have soared since the Oct 7 attack on southern Israel launched by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Palestinian armed groups supported by Iran. The attack killed some 1,200 Israelis, and the militants took around 250 hostages. Israel responded with one of the deadliest and most destructive military onslaughts in recent history, killing nearly 34,000 Palestinians.Israel has withdrawn most of its forces from Gaza after major offensives that left its two biggest cities - Gaza City and Khan Younis - in ruins. However, Israeli officials say the war is not over and plan to send ground forces into Rafah, where more than half of Gaza's population of 2.3 million people have sought refuge from fighting elsewhere.Hamas is still holding around 130 hostages, with international efforts to broker a cease-fire and hostage release making little progress. Hezbollah has traded fire with Israel along the border on a near-daily basis since the war began, risking igniting an all-out war. Iran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria have also launched attacks, while Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have targeted international shipping in the Red Sea.