(Bloomberg) -- Israel’s defense minister is set to travel to Washington as the country weighs how to respond to an Iranian missile attack a week ago and steps up its ground operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Most Read from Bloomberg

• Urban Heat Stress Is Another Disparity in the World’s Most Unequal Nation

• Singapore Ends 181 Years of Horse Racing to Make Way for Homes

• From Cleveland to Chicago, NFL Teams Dream of Domed Stadiums

• What Do US Vehicle Regulators Have Against Tiny Cars?

• For a Master of Brutalist Provocations, a Modest Museum Appraisal

Yoav Gallant will discuss “ongoing Middle East security developments” with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday, the Pentagon said. As well as considering a riposte to Tehran, Israel is engaged in warfare with two of Iran’s proxy allies, Hezbollah and Hamas in Gaza.

US President Joe Biden has urged Israel not to attack Iran’s nuclear program or oil infrastructure, amid concerns either move could trigger a wider war that drags in Washington, pushes up energy prices and hits the global economy.

The US and its allies have been coordinating communications to convince Israel to focus instead on military targets, according to people familiar with the matter. Hitting energy infrastructure would be unacceptable for some, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Iran made “a big mistake” and will “pay for it,” though a response has yet to come. The barrage of 200 ballistic missiles caused little damage, with one fatality in the West Bank, but millions of Israelis were forced into shelters and some air bases were hit.

“If Gallant is due in US this week, it’s clear Israel’s response against Iran has been delayed,” Aaron David Miller, a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Senior Fellow and former State Department Arab-Israeli negotiator, said on X. “The complexities of escalation and the need to convince — and perhaps coordinate — Israel’s response with the US seem to be top of mind.”

Iran says any retaliation will be met with a more powerful assault. “We advise Israel not to test our will,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tuesday in a speech in Tehran, ahead of a regional tour of countries including Saudi Arabia to boost efforts to reign in Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon.

Central Intelligence Agency head William Burns said Monday there’s a “real danger of a further regional escalation” and the Israeli leadership is taking into account the White House’s concerns. Yet Netanyahu hasn’t shown a willingness to follow US advice in the various conflicts to date, ignoring calls from Washington for a cease-fire in Lebanon ahead of the assassination of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah last month.

The US has similarly failed to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza after months of on-off talks.

The standoff between Israel and Iran — arch-foes in the region — comes as fighting escalates on multiple fronts a year after Hamas militants launched a deadly attack on southern Israel, triggering the ongoing war in Gaza.

Israel said Monday it intercepted most of a barrage of rockets fired by Hamas toward Tel Aviv. Israel bombed a number of targets in Gaza on the same day.

View More: Hamas Fires Rockets at Israel, Conflict Continues (Video)

The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday a fourth army division is being deployed into Lebanon a week after the start of a ground operation against Hezbollah, the most powerful of Tehran’s allied militias. Israeli jets have carried out a heavy bombardment of Beirut suburbs and other areas, and have eliminated most of Hezbollah’s leaders.

Hezbollah’s deputy chief Naim Qasem said that, while the group supports efforts to secure a cease-fire, it isn’t backing down. The IDF said Hezbollah fired 190 rockets at Israel in the past 24 hours, while TV footage showed rocket fire over Haifa, the country’s third-biggest city.

More than 1,500 people have been killed in Lebanon by Israel’s bombings in recent weeks and around one million have been displaced, according to local officials. The IDF says 10 soldiers have died in the campaign, which Netanyahu has said is essential to return displaced Israelis to their homes in northern communities.

The US and many of its allies consider Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist groups.

In a sign that opinion inside Israel is hardening, opposition leader Yair Lapid said the country should ignore US objections and strike oil facilities in Iran, an OPEC member that exports 1.7 million barrels of crude a day.

“This is Iran’s Achilles’ heel, a blow to its economy — the Iranian economy is in a very precarious state,” Lapid, a former prime minister, told the public broadcaster Kan. “I would go into the room with them (Americans), and say: ‘I’m sorry, Israel has its own interests.’”

--With assistance from Arsalan Shahla and Dana Khraiche.

(Updates with Israel military deployment in Lebanon in second paragraph.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

• Hamas Struck Israel to Spark a Wider Conflict. A Year Later, It’s Got One

• Rotting Rice in India Fuels Discontent About Modi’s Food Policy

• Tax Cuts Pay for Themselves and Other Fairy Tales

• How Jellycat Plushies Became a Gen Z Obsession

• Rate Cuts Need Time to Work Their Way Through the Economy

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.