Israel Said Planning Massive Retaliation, Likely Targets Include Oil & Gas Rigs, Nuclear Sites

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to be in meetings with his security cabinet Wednesday to mull potential operations to last night's Iranian attack which saw some 181 ballistic missiles fired directly at Israel.

Israel's military claims most were intercepted, and that there was almost no damage or Israeli casualties, but the avalanche of available on-the-ground videos contradict these assertions. Israeli media has cited officials who say retaliation on Iran could include hitting targets like gas or oil rigs, and Iran's nuclear sites.

"An attack on Iranian oil facilities could devastate the country’s economy, and any of the considered responses could mark another escalation, almost one year into the ongoing war that began when the Hamas terror group attacked Israel in October 2023," Times of Israel writes. 

A correspondent from the same publication has cited another official who says the response will aim to inflict "significant financial damage" and that Israeli leaders feel the strike "must be significant, and it must come soon."

The security cabinet spent much of Tuesday night in a secure bunker under Jerusalem. By the end of the meeting there was reportedly consensus that Israel's military would hit back.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's first words in the wake of the attack were "Iran made a big mistake tonight, and it will pay for it" and included the vow, "whoever attacks us — we will attack them."

"The regime in Iran does not understand our determination to defend ourselves and our determination to retaliate against our enemies. They will understand. We will stand by the rule we established: whoever attacks us, we will attack him," Netanyahu continued.

Netanyahu met with Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, Mossad director David Barnea, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday:

Axios also suggests in its reporting that a "massive payback" is coming:

Israeli officials staring down all-out regional war tell Axios Israel will launch a "significant retaliation" to Tuesday's massive missile attack within days that could target oil production facilities inside Iran and other strategic sites.

An Israeli official told the outlet, "We have a big question mark about how the Iranians are going to respond to an attack, but we take into consideration the possibility that they would go all in, which will be a whole different ball game."

People were celebrating the ballistic missile attacks inside Iran and Gaza. The size of it was unprecedented in history in terms of a single volley of heavy rockets sent directly on Israel.

Meanwhile, in south Lebanon Israeli ground troops are reportedly engaged in close-quarters combat with Hezbollah fighters. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have confirmed the first troop death of its Operation Northern Arrows in Lebanon.

"The soldier is named as Cpt. Eitan Itzhak Oster, 22, a team commander in the Egoz Commando Unit, from Modi’in," TOI writes. "Oster was killed during a battle with Hezbollah operatives in a village in southern Lebanon." 

Despite overnight scenes like the below, Israel on Wednesday claims its bases and infrastructure came out largely unscathed...

There have been unverified reports circulating of additional casualties suffered by the Israelis, and the situation is fast looking like the 2006 war, which had high casualties on both sides.

Al Jazeera writes of the heavy fighting, "Hezbollah has issued a statement saying its fighters detonated an explosive device that killed and wounded members of the Israeli army trying to circumvent the village of Yaroun in southern Lebanon." The Israeli Army did not put out an immediate statement confirming or denying.

Iranians preparing for the worst...