Breaking news on Iran attacks on Israel, war with Hamas and situation in Gaza, LIVE: News, reactions and more

Israel has not yet agreed on how to respond to the Iranian attack in which more than 300 shells were fired into its territory in the first direct military confrontation between the Islamic Republic and the Jewish state.

Israel will have to balance international pressure to show restraint on the one hand, while demanding an appropriate response to an unprecedented attack on the other.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must now weigh calls from his right-wing coalition for a stronger response against the risk of further international isolation for Israel by expanding the war without international support.

Despite pressure from allies not to escalate the situation, Israel’s war cabinet is now debating the timing and scope of the response, two Israeli officials familiar with the deliberations told CNN.

Analysts say Israel has few options, and each of those options has a cost, especially since it is already embroiled in a brutal six-month war with Hamas in Gaza and several Iranian-backed militants in the region. Is facing.

A direct attack against Iran would set another precedent. While Israel is believed to have conducted covert operations in Iran over the years, often targeting people or facilities considered a threat to its security, it has never launched a direct military attack on Iranian territory.

“We are definitely in a new and very dangerous phase of the Israeli-Iranian confrontation,” said Raz Zimmat, an Iran expert at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv. “Iran has certainly tried to change the rules of the game with Israel… We can expect more direct attacks in the future.”