Updated

Israeli defence officials were reported on 1 August 2026 to have assessed that Iran would launch missiles at Israel even if Israel did not initially take part in a new American military offensive against the Islamic Republic, according to The Times of Israel's live coverage of the day. The assessment reflected Israeli planning assumptions that Tehran would treat Israel as a co-belligerent of the United States regardless of its formal role at the outset of any campaign. Israeli home front and air defence preparations were being weighed accordingly. The reporting came amid heightened expectations of renewed US-Iranian confrontation following earlier rounds of strikes and Iranian missile salvos at Israeli territory. For Israeli civilians, the assessment carried direct implications for shelter guidance and civil defence readiness in central Israel, which has been targeted in previous Iranian barrages. The episode illustrated how the Gaza track and the Iran track of the wider regional conflict remained closely linked, with any escalation involving Washington and Tehran risking immediate spillover onto Israeli cities.