People attend the funerals of security force members killed during protests sparked by the collapse of the currency’s value, in Tehran, Iran, on Jan. 14, 2026. (Credit: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)
BEIRUT —The Israeli military has raised its alert level in recent days, "due to fears that U.S. President Donald Trump has decided to strike Iran, possibly in the coming days," the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Wednesday, citing security officials.
However, the officials noted that there is "no public signal from Washington indicating such a decision [to strike Iran at this stage]."
On Thursday, Trump even said, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, that "Iran does want to talk, and we'll talk." Nevertheless, Israeli authorities are taking "very seriously the possibility of an imminent attack and are preparing for various scenarios, both for the home front and for military forces," the Israeli newspaper reported.
Although everything seemed to indicate that Trump was about to order a strike on Iran on the night of Jan. 14 to 15, in the context of the deadly crackdown on the popular uprising that swept the Islamic Republic of Iran in late 2025, he ultimately decided at the very least to postpone, if not cancel it.
Gulf countries, and to some extent Israel, are said to have played a role in this decision.
During the large protest movement that intensified after the first week of Jan., 3,117 people were killed, according to Iranian state television on Wednesday. According to the Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR), whose figures are cited by the U.N., at least 3,428 protesters have been killed, but the death toll could even exceed 20,000.
'Potential threats' from Lebanon
Israeli army officials also told Haaretz of an elevated alert level in a "context of potential threats coming from Yemen and Lebanon."
Israel is reportedly preparing, in the event of U.S. strikes on Iran and possible escalation, "for the possibility that Iran will seek to put pressure on Israel from the Lebanese border through Hezbollah."
However, intelligence sources clarified that "there is no indication [that Hezbollah] intends to enter into a large-scale conflict," noting that the Shiite party "has so far refrained from any military action against Israel."
Hezbollah has fired only once toward Israel since the cease-fire with Israel took effect at the end of November 2024. It was also not involved during the twelve-day war in June 2025 between Israel and its Iranian patron.
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