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‘NYT': Netanyahu dropped retaliation against Iran after Biden call

The decision was made in part because Tehran’s drone and missile attacks “caused relatively minor damage.”

U.S. President Joe Biden in Israel
U.S President Joe Biden in Tel Aviv, Oct. 18, 2023. Photo by Miriam Alster/Flash90.

Israel abandoned the option of launching a retaliatory strike on Iranian territory following a Saturday phone call between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Joe Biden, The New York Times reported on Sunday, citing officials in Jerusalem.

According to the Times, the decision was made in part because the Iranian drone and missile attacks “caused relatively minor damage.”

Biden reportedly told Netanyahu during the call that his administration would not support offensive action against the regime in Tehran.

The Islamic Republic fired more than 300 missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles from its territory towards Israel overnight Saturday, in what Tehran says was retaliation for the April 1 killing of several Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officers in Syria by Israel.

A 7-year-old Israeli Bedouin girl wounded in the attack underwent surgery Sunday for a serious head wound and remains in critical condition.

Israel’s War Cabinet was set to convene on Sunday to discuss the country’s response to the Iranian attack, amid calls by coalition members to restore deterrence vis-à-vis Tehran.

Many reservists were called up in the middle of the night for the surprise exercise, part of the military’s post-Oct. 7 testing of readiness.
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