Tensions across the Middle East have spiked as the prospect of a U.S.-Iran war looms larger, with Israeli media reporting that Jerusalem is now gaming out a hypothetical scenario in which Iran might strike Israel first even though the report offers no clear sourcing for why such an attack would unfold that way; Israeli officials have nevertheless repeated that any blow to their territory would trigger swift retaliation, while U.S. forces quietly mass air and naval power across the region in case diplomacy fails.