Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was preparing to launch fresh strikes against Iran earlier this month, but US President Donald Trump opposed a resumption of hostilities before the American midterm elections, according to sources cited by the Financial Times.

Three people briefed on the matter told the British newspaper that the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) had been ready to carry out attacks over the weekend of 10 October, targeting Iranian nuclear facilities, regime installations and civilian infrastructure, including energy facilities.

However, according to the same anonymous sources, Trump ultimately decided that he did not want fighting to resume ahead of the US midterm elections on 3 November.

The sources claimed that the planned strikes would have been more extensive than those carried out by the United States and Israel last February.

It remains unclear, according to the Financial Times, whether the US would have participated directly in the attacks. One source nevertheless told the newspaper that renewed military operations in the coming weeks were “not an unreasonable scenario”.

Another source said Israel had drawn up a new target list that included civilian infrastructure which had not previously been struck.

A separate source suggested that the Israeli military’s preparations for strikes earlier in October may have been part of a negotiating tactic, stressing that the ultimate decision on whether to resume hostilities rested with Trump.

The Pentagon declined to comment on the report.

Hegseth’s secret visit to Israel

The Financial Times report was published two days after reports emerged that US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had made a secret visit to Israel, where he met Netanyahu to discuss “threats in the region”.

It is not the first time in recent weeks that reports have suggested the Israeli prime minister has been pressing for renewed strikes against Iran.

On 9 October, Trump said Washington would not attack Iran before the midterm elections. His remarks came just days after a report claimed that Israel’s military chief, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, had warned his American counterparts that such a strike could lead to the postponement of Israel’s elections, scheduled for next week.

According to the same reports, Israeli officials believe Iran would respond to any US attack by launching a massive barrage of missiles against Israel.

Israel’s Channel 12 also reported last week that Netanyahu had asked Trump to resume military operations against Iran before Israel’s elections on 27 October and the US midterm elections on 3 November.