Speaking during a historic White House meeting with Lebanese President George Aoun, Trump declared: "We will definitely attack the new site they are talking about, Mount Pickaxe. The whole story is about nuclear weapons, and now they may be trying to re-establish a site. We will hit that site too. Any site where they even think about nuclear activity, we will hit with very great force," YNET reported.
The threat carries heightened significance following reports that Iran has transferred thousands of enrichment centrifuges — and possibly uranium — to the Mount Pickaxe facility. Israeli officials assess that if Trump follows through on expanding the war to target the site, the conflict would no longer remain a limited U.S.-Iran engagement, potentially drawing Israel into the fray, YNET noted.
"The ball is entirely in Trump's court," senior Israeli officials told YNET, emphasizing that only the American president will decide whether and how to broaden the campaign. The United States has recently intensified its military posture in the region, with aerial refueling tankers and additional forces continuing to arrive.
However, an Israeli senior official made clear that while Israel does not seek to join the direct U.S.-Iran confrontation at this stage, any Iranian attack on Israeli soil would trigger a massive response. "If Iran attacks us — we go 'all in' and we hit them. With us, there is no half-work," the official told YNET, adding that Israel possesses "a very large target bank" and would "exploit additional opportunities in the region" to degrade Iranian capabilities and its proxies.
The official noted that Tehran understands the implications of Israeli entry into the conflict, stating: "The Iranians do not want us to come in." Meanwhile, Trump reportedly prefers to "fence the conflict" and manage it without escalating into a broader regional war, partly due to concerns over oil prices, YNET reported.
On the diplomatic track, Qatar and Oman are advancing a proposal for a 10-day ceasefire, according to YNET.
The senior official also addressed the northern front, saying Israel is deliberately working to separate Iran from Hezbollah. "As long as Hezbollah poses a threat, Israel has legitimacy to continue operating in Lebanon," the official said, while warning that renewed fighting with Iran could drag Hezbollah into the conflict.
In related developments, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke Monday with Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a six-hour security cabinet session. A date for Netanyahu's visit to Washington to meet Trump has yet to be set. Israeli officials claimed that allies of Vice President JD Vance — who has taken a hard line against Israel — were actively trying to prevent a Netanyahu-Trump meeting. The White House firmly denied the claim, with a senior official calling it "completely false" and "ridiculous," YNET reported.
Illustration: YNET