According to a May 18 report by CCTV News citing Israeli sources, following a phone call with US President Trump the previous day, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu convened meetings of the Security Cabinet for two consecutive nights to prepare for the resumption of Israeli-US military operations against Iran.
It is reported that Netanyahu has convened a small group of senior officials and aides for security consultations for the second time in less than 24 hours to assess the current situation and possible options. An Israeli official said that, given that hostilities might resume before the end of the week, the situation was currently highly tense.
According to sources familiar with the matter, during a phone call between Trump and Netanyahu on May 17, the two sides did not reach a clear consensus on the next steps. Both Israel and the U.S. are preparing for all possible scenarios and maintaining close coordination.
On the afternoon of May 18 (Eastern Time), US President Trump posted on social media that, at the request of the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, he had ordered the postponement of a military strike against Iran "scheduled for tomorrow (May 19)." According to Israeli sources, Trump later said at a White House event that he had informed the Israeli side of this decision in advance. The leaders of the three countries asked him to postpone the attack by "two to three days" because they believed an agreement was about to be reached.
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