Israel’s military is preparing options for another strike on Iran, including operations carried out without U.S. involvement, even as Israeli and American forces maintain what operational sources in the Israel Defense Forces described as extremely close intelligence and operational coordination, Israel Hayom reported on Monday. The preparations come as the IDF winds down a months-long campaign against Hezbollah on Israel’s northern border, braces for a possible flare-up in Gaza, and watches a political calendar in Washington that is shaping how far President Donald Trump is willing to press Tehran before the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
Close coordination, independent plans
The operational sources said U.S. military officers are stationed in Israel and Israeli officers are stationed in the United States, with continuous staff exchanges between the two militaries. Alongside that coordination, the sources said, Israeli forces maintain fully independent contingency plans for operations against Tehran, a track the IDF is actively preparing.
The preparations follow a year of escalating confrontation. Israel launched its first strikes on Iran on June 13, 2025, in an offensive Israel called Operation Rising Lion. The United States and Israel opened a new war on Iran in February 2026, with Washington’s campaign known as Operation Epic Fury. Months into that war, Netanyahu told Trump in a phone call that Israel would keep “freedom of action against threats in all arenas,” an Israeli political source told Reuters in May. The source said Trump “reiterated and supported this principle.”
Nuclear material at the center of Israeli planning
Iran’s nuclear program sits at the center of the planning. Israel Hayom reported that Iran retains dozens of kilograms of highly enriched fissile material and that Tehran treats its nuclear stockpile as its main remaining strategic leverage, alongside its ability to threaten global energy shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has put the scale of Iran’s stockpile far higher than that figure. In a February 2026 report to its Board of Governors, the agency said Iran had accumulated 440.9 kilograms of uranium enriched up to 60 percent by the time of the June 2025 attacks, and that a tunnel complex at Isfahan stored uranium hexafluoride enriched up to 20 percent and 60 percent. Iran is the only non-nuclear-weapon state under the Non-Proliferation Treaty to have produced uranium enriched to that level, the agency said. The Congressional Research Service reports that the IAEA withdrew its inspectors from Iran after the June 2025 strikes and that Iran’s nuclear program status remains unclear.
Midterms and oil prices
The Iranian theater remains closely tied to American domestic politics, Israel Hayom reported. Trump cannot tolerate spikes in global oil prices heading into the November midterms, the outlet wrote, and Washington has moved to stabilize the Iranian front through economic leverage rather than new military action.
The centerpiece of that approach is Operation Economic Outcast, the Treasury Department’s sanctions campaign announced on Aug. 24. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at the launch that the objective is to “sever every economic lifeline that sustains this tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone,” according to a White House release.
For Jerusalem, Israel Hayom reported, the current framework amounts to a viable holding pattern, provided Washington keeps severe sanctions in place and avoids moves that destabilize energy markets. Economic pressure on Tehran has intensified significantly, the outlet reported, and living conditions across Iran have deteriorated.
Israeli defense officials have previously calculated that sustained economic isolation increases the regime’s internal vulnerabilities. Former Mossad director David Barnea once suggested the government could fracture within a year of Operation Rising Lion under a continued blockade. Long-term regime stability remains difficult to predict, Israel Hayom noted, particularly after assertions made around that 2025 offensive went unfulfilled, and operational planners remain pragmatic.
Israeli forces are preparing both proactive strike options and defensive postures in case Tehran initiates hostilities to break its economic isolation, the report said. Unilateral action by Israel or the United States before the midterms appears unlikely, but defense officials stressed that Iranian actions do not always follow Washington’s political schedule.
Hezbollah border campaign nears completion
On Israel’s northern frontier, the IDF is nearing the end of a systematic campaign against Hezbollah’s border positions. Troops recently destroyed a large underground complex that Iran and Hezbollah spent two decades building near the Ali Taher ridge, close to Nabatieh in southern Lebanon. They continue operating along what Israel calls the Yellow Line, with current efforts concentrated on the coastal village of Al-Mansouri while counter-infrastructure missions continue across the sector.
A senior military commander said the IDF is exceptionally close to neutralizing Hezbollah’s border positions and estimated that 80% to 90% of the terror infrastructure south of the Yellow Line has been demolished. “We are under no pressure to rush,” the commander said. “We hold this security zone and will maintain our presence until an adequate security alternative is established.”
The operation has proceeded methodically, with Northern Command directing commanders to prioritize preserving forces over speed, even when tactical constraints cause delays. Barring unforeseen disruptions, officials expect to declare the border infrastructure neutralized within weeks, though operations could expand into adjacent sectors.
Military planners are also restructuring positions to hold the Yellow Line from dominant ridges and defensible high ground with fewer regular troops. That posture would let reserve units demobilize and active forces return to routine training. Defense officials are meanwhile working to counter explosive drones, which they expect Hezbollah to use again if hostilities resume.
The main diplomatic variable is the Lebanese government, which publicly supports disarming Hezbollah. In two pilot zones assigned to the Lebanese Armed Forces, however, progress in dismantling terror assets has been minimal, leaving Israeli leaders to decide whether and how to advance the initiative. The State Department spokesperson announced in May that the April 16 cessation of hostilities between Israel and Lebanon had been extended by 45 days, and that a separate security track would open at the Pentagon with military delegations from both countries.
Friction in Judea and Samaria
Security conditions in Judea and Samaria, the area also known as the West Bank, remain highly volatile. Israel Hayom reported that the Judea and Samaria Division has curbed Palestinian terror activity compared with past peaks, but that commanders cite growing operational friction caused by Jewish rioters. The spread of dozens of unauthorized outposts and farms has strained resources, forcing troops to cover expanding territory without adjustments to force levels.
Repeated violent clashes between Jewish rioters and Palestinians, often involving land seizures, property destruction and confrontations with security personnel, have complicated the mission further. Military officials expressed frustration that law enforcement, judicial authorities and the Shin Bet have failed to curb the unrest, leaving soldiers in an enforcement role commanders consider untenable.
Commanders are also concerned that civil unrest could escalate ahead of elections, particularly if political actors try to move the domestic agenda toward security issues and away from military draft legislation or economic pressures. Officials worry that heightened tensions could trigger widespread Palestinian unrest or a surge in terror attacks.
Gaza: renewed fighting seen as inevitable
In Gaza, three years after the Oct. 7 attacks and one year after the return of hostages, the IDF continues routine targeting operations across the Strip. Israeli air strikes eliminate roughly 80 operatives a month on average, the outlet reported, many of them involved in rebuilding Hamas’ organizational structure or carrying out local attacks on IDF positions.
Hamas remains operational despite severe degradation. It retains roughly 20,000 personnel, who are less trained than before the war and continue to reorganize while diverting resources from the approximately 600 humanitarian aid trucks entering Gaza each day. Hamas has not fired rockets into Israel for nearly a year, but intelligence assessments indicate it still holds several hundred rockets and continues small-scale production and tunnel construction.
Senior military figures acknowledged that renewed large-scale combat in Gaza remains inevitable over a longer horizon. For now, the IDF is bound by ceasefire terms and international diplomacy, and is focusing on targeted eliminations while keeping its forces ready for future operations.