When he lobbied US President Donald Trump not to strike Iran last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reasoned that Israel is not fully prepared to defend against Tehran’s retaliation, The Washington Post reports, citing an unnamed source close to the White House.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he agreed with U.S. President Donald Trump's administration that the Rafah crossing in Gaza would not reopen until Hamas had handed over the remains of Ran Gvili, the last hostage still in the strip, according to a report by KAN, Israel's public broadcaster.

Reports indicated that Israel may have been taken by surprise that Trump had been aloof at first, but was suddenly contemplating an attack on Wednesday.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that Iran’s leadership had halted the executions of hundreds of protesters detained during a recent nationwide crackdown. He claimed the move came after scheduled hangings were set to be carried out a day earlier,

As Iran returned to uneasy calm, a senior hard-line cleric called Friday for the death penalty for detained demonstrators and directly threatened Trump — evidence of the rage gripping authorities in the Islamic Republic.