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The United States is likely to enter the Israel-Iran war in coming days and is already making preparations to do so, the New York Times reported citing two Israeli defense officials.

Based on Israeli conversations with their US counterparts over the past two days, a US strike on Iran could take place in the coming days, the officials were quoted as saying.

A nine-day Israeli military campaign has killed 865 people and wounded over 3,000, US-based rights group HRANA reported on Saturday.

363 of the fatalities were civilian, 215 military and the rest still undetermined, HRANA added.

Israel has so far reported 24 civilian fatalities and approximately 1,200 injuries resulting from ballistic missiles fired from Iran.

Israeli officials have told the United States they may not wait until the end of Donald Trump's two-week deadline to strike Iran’s underground Fordow nuclear facility and could act alone, Reuters reported Saturday, citing two sources familiar with what they described as a tense phone call.

“The Israeli officials said they do not want to wait the two weeks that US President Donald Trump presented on Thursday as a deadline for deciding whether the US will get involved in the Israel-Iran war," the report said citing the sources.

During the tense conversation with US officials on Thursday, Israeli leaders—Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and military chief Eyal Zamir—expressed frustration with Washington’s timeline, insisting they face a narrowing window to hit Iran’s fortified Fordow site.

Only the US has weapons capable of penetrating the mountain-buried facility, the sources said.

A new wave of Israeli airstrikes is targeting multiple cities across Iran—from Bandar Abbas, Ahvaz, and Marvdasht in the south; to Tabriz, Salmas and Babol in the north; Sanandaj and Kermanshah in the west; and Tehran, Qom, and Isfahan in the center, eyewitnesses and media reports say.

The Israeli military says it has attacked unmanned aerial vehicle depots and weapons depot in Bandar Abbas area in southern Iran.

Israeli media reports say an Iranian naval base in Bandar Abbas has also been targeted by the Israeli air force.

The presenter's mother, father and younger brother are being held in an unidentified location.

The presenter received a phone call from her father early Saturday morning urging her to resign. The voices of security agents could be heard in the background telling her father what to say.

“I’ve told you a thousand times to resign. What other consequences do you expect?” he told her. "You have to resign”.

"Iran International strongly condemns the Islamic Republic's recent abduction of family members of one of our journalists, an appalling act of hostage-taking aimed at coercing our colleague into resigning from their post," a spokesperson for Iran International said.

"This deeply reprehensible tactic marks a dangerous escalation in the Islamic Republic's ruthless campaign to silence dissent and suppress independent journalism."

Exerting pressure on the families of Iran International staff is not new. Many have faced ongoing harassment, surveillance, and intimidation over the years. However, this latest development crosses a new threshold.

The deliberate detention of a relative, coupled with the use of psychological torture, represents a cruel and calculated effort to break the will of our journalists by targeting their loved ones.

This tactic is a violation of international human rights law. It is also an alarming indicator of the lengths the Islamic Republic will go to silence independent reporting and suppress truth.

Iran International is increasingly concerned that the Iranian government is entering a new phase of unchecked repression, in which individuals linked to independent media outlets or international organizations risk being taken hostage and subjected to cruel treatment.

Iran International calls upon the UN and its member states, international human rights bodies and media watchdogs to condemn this act of state-sponsored intimidation and to exert maximum pressure on the Iranian authorities for the immediate and unconditional release of the family of Iran International’s presenter.

Iran International remains undeterred by attempts to silence it and remains committed to its mission of providing independent and accurate news to the Iranian people.

Iran International is an independent television news channel broadcasting to Iran, offering unbiased and uncensored news and analysis to a wide audience. It is the most-watched news channel in Iran.

Based in London, it aims to provide a platform for diverse voices and foster informed public discourse on events concerning Iran and the wider region. Iran International is managed by Volant Media UK Limited.