By Athena Papakosta

“Israel will make its own decisions and do whatever is necessary to protect itself, even if it goes against the advice of its allies,” the Israeli prime minister clarified. Benjamin Netanyahu, rejecting the exhortations of the British Foreign Minister, David Cameron and also of his German counterpart, Analena Burbock, who met with him yesterday, Wednesday.

Israel’s allies are calling on the country’s political leadership to show restraint, sounding the alarm that a direct conflict with Iran could lead the Middle East to an all-out war.

The diplomatic pressure from the allies coincides with warnings from Iran’s president that even the “smallest action” against Iranian soil will bring a “massive and harsh response”.

Despite the Israelis’ tough rhetoric, analysts say Tel Aviv is unlikely to attack Iran directly without at least the support of the United States. However, it could resort to other methods such as targeting top Iranian commanders or Iranian-backed organizations in other countries or even launching a cyber attack.

It remains unknown how Tehran will respond, with everyone agreeing that a single miscalculation on either side will engulf the Middle East in the flames of war.

According to a report by Axios, Israel’s War Council on Monday considered giving the green light for the Israeli Armed Forces (IDF) to attack Iran. However, according to the report, which cited two Israeli officials, it was decided not to launch a counterattack due to operational reasons. As it is also emphasized, the United States of America was also informed about the decision to wait until further notice.

Today, Thursday, it is expected – according to Israeli media – that the Military Council and the Security Council of the country will meet together. As reported by the Israeli website Ynet, Israel’s possible response against Iran, the collapsing talks with Hamas and the ongoing attacks by Iran-backed Hezbollah in the north of Israel are expected to be discussed.

At the same time, and while the entire region is on alert and thus Arab states are openly worried about the day ahead, Qatar appears to be reassessing its role as a mediator between Israel and Hamas.

In a joint interview with Turkey’s foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, the country’s prime minister, Mohammed bin Abdelrahman Al Thani, underlined that “we are in the process of completely reviewing our role”because some politicians are abusing this to advance their own goals,” adding, then, that Qatar would make a “decision in due course” on whether or not to continue to be involved in the talks.

In Brussels, European leaders are meeting and discussing the extension of sanctions already imposed on Tehran while already calling on all sides to show restraint. Coming to the Summit, the Prime Minister of Belgium, Alexander De Croix, argued that officers of the Revolutionary Guards should be added to the European list of sanctions against Iran, while the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz again called for restraint.