Israel will attack Iran within days and could strike oil facilities or even nuclear sites, reports claim.

Targeted assassinations as well as air strikes are also under consideration as part of a “significant retaliation”, Israeli officials told the Axios news site.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, vowed on Tuesday to retaliate against Iran after it fired 180 ballistic missiles at the Jewish state.

Tehran would pay for the attacks, said Mr Netanyahu, adding: “We will stand by the rule we established: whoever attacks us – we will attack him.”

Israel’s war cabinet has not decided exactly what form the response will take, Axios reported, and will first discuss its options with the United States.

Naftali Bennett, a former Israeli prime minister, has urged Mr Netanyahu’s government to go further and “destroy [Iran’s] nuclear project, destroy their major energy facilities and critically hit this terrorist regime”.

“We have a big question mark about how the Iranians are going to respond to an attack, but we take into consideration the possibility that they would go all in, which will be a whole different ball game,” an Israeli official told Axios.

The US has expressed solid support for Israel, warning that there would be “severe consequences” for Iran and that Washington was “well postured” to defend its interests in the Middle East.

After missiles rained down on Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on Tuesday, a senior Israeli official said: “Iran has declared war directly on the state of Israel.”

Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, said: “We have made clear that there will be consequences, severe consequences, for this attack, and we will work with Israel to make that the case.”

The missile attack, along with Israel’s conflict with Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah, has increased the prospect of a direct war between the two countries.

Both governments have been at pains to avoid such a scenario despite simmering tensions for years.

Calls for Israel to target Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons programme were also growing among hardliners, while Western leaders have urged all sides to pull back from the brink.