The New York Times published an article on Wednesday, referring to Israeli preparations to attack Iran. It notes that for decades, Iran and Israel have been engaged in a covert war, and this year, the conflict between them exploded into the open.

Israel is now preparing to launch a military strike on Iran - in response to Iran's firing of about 180 ballistic missiles at Israel on October 1.

The newspaper quotes Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant as saying that his country's counterattack would be "deadly, precise and above all, surprising." The newspaper speculates that the strike, if it happens, could expand the regional conflict that erupted with a deadly attack on Israel on October 7 of last year by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The newspaper presents its conclusion regarding the possible Israeli military action against Iran, and the events that brought the two countries to this point.

When will the strikes happen?

The newspaper says: No one knows when the strike will be. It points out that during a previous exchange of air strikes in April, Israel waited only about five days to respond to a similar Iranian attack.

But various factors may have dictated a longer period before responding this time, including talks between Israel and the Biden administration, the arrival of the American air defense system and the Jewish holidays. The upcoming US elections could also have an impact on Israeli timing.

The newspaper also points to two secret American intelligence documents leaked last week that describe satellite images of Israeli military preparations for a possible strike on Iran, offering insight into American concerns about the plans. One document described recent exercises that appeared to be rehearsals for strike elements, while the second shows how Israel is repositioning its missiles and weapons in case Iran responds with another strike. (The FBI said Tuesday it is investigating the leak of the document.)

What are the possible Israeli goals?

Analysts say there are several categories of targets. Israel could try to balance its strategic goals of severely weakening Iran’s proxy forces — Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza — with the concerns of its allies, especially the United States, that a new attack could ignite a wider regional war.

Two U.S. officials told the newspaper that the Israeli government has told the Biden administration that it will avoid striking nuclear enrichment and oil production sites in Iran. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy, said Israel has agreed to focus its attacks on military targets in Iran. Avoiding nuclear or oil infrastructure sites would reduce the likelihood of an all-out war between the two adversaries, amid concerns in Washington about being drawn into a wider Middle East confrontation with the presidential election less than two weeks away.

But what are the Israeli military capabilities?

If Israel wants to use its powerful air power to respond, its planes will have to fly long distances. But it has recently shown that it is capable of doing so.

In attacks against the Houthis in Yemen in late September, Israeli forces flew more than a thousand miles to attack power plants and shipping infrastructure, using surveillance aircraft and dozens of fighter jets that had to be refueled mid-flight. An attack on Iran would require similar range.

Iran has much stronger air defenses than Lebanon and Yemen, but Israel has shown that it may have advantages beyond Iran's capabilities.

In April, in response to Iran’s first missile attack, an Israeli airstrike damaged an S-300 anti-aircraft system near Natanz, a city in central Iran that is critical to the country’s nuclear weapons program. Western and Iranian officials said Israel deployed drones and fired at least one missile from a warplane in that attack.

This strike showed that Israel is capable of bypassing and crippling Iran's defense systems, according to estimates.

“I think it’s likely that they will copy the April operation and try to take out Iran’s early warning systems and air defenses to clear the way for an air attack,” Grant Rumley, a former Pentagon official and senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a pro-Israel lobbying group, said in a previous interview. “The question will be how broad their scope is and whether they will enter Iranian airspace.”

According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington think tank, Israel also has other options: the Jericho 2 medium-range ballistic missile that can fly about 2,000 miles, and the Jericho 3 medium-range ballistic missile that can reach targets more than 4,000 miles away.

What is the US government's position?

US President Joe Biden said this month he would not support an attack on Iran's nuclear sites.

Biden said yes last week when asked if he knew when Israel would strike and what kind of targets it would choose. He did not elaborate, but his response suggests the United States and Israel may have reached an agreement on the matter. Antony J. Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, held a lengthy meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday. Some analysts say the looming U.S. presidential election makes it harder for the United States to influence and limit any potential Israeli action. The fact that Mr. Biden is not seeking a second term may also weaken his hand in terms of influencing Israeli action, they say.

How did Israel and Iran get to this point?

Experts claim that for decades, Iran and Israel have been engaged in what amounts to a covert war. Iran has used proxy forces including Hamas and Hezbollah to attack Israeli interests, and Israel has assassinated senior Iranian officials and nuclear scientists, as well as launched cyberattacks. This conflict burst into the open this year.

Last April, Iran unleashed a barrage of missiles and drones into Israel, attacking the country directly for the first time in response to an Israeli strike on an embassy compound in the Syrian capital of Damascus that killed three top Iranian commanders. Israel essentially thwarted the Iranian missile barrage using its air defenses, with help from the United States and other allies, and then responded with an attack of its own.

Then in late July, Israeli aircraft killed a senior commander of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group, Fouad Shukr, in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, in response to a missile attack that killed at least 12 people. A day later, Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in an explosion in the Iranian capital of Tehran.

The Iranian government and Hezbollah have vowed to respond, but to the surprise of many, Iran has taken no immediate action.

When it fired its missiles on October 1, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it was avenging Mr. Haniyeh’s assassination, as well as the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in late September, as well as the killing of an Iranian commander.

Days after the death of Hassan Nasrallah, Israel invaded southern Lebanon, bombing Hezbollah, Iran's most important proxy.