Israeli PM Netanyahu says they are ready to strike at any moment, Sky News Arabia reports

Rhetoric of this kind from Israeli leadership has recurred at intervals throughout periods of regional tension, and the historical pattern is that the statement itself is rarely the market-moving event; it is whether it is followed by observable operational confirmation, troop mobilisation, strikes, or retaliation, that separates a headline-driven knee-jerk from a sustained repricing. The established sequence in comparable episodes is an initial bid in crude, gold and the traditional havens (JPY, CHF, USD) alongside softness in equity futures, with the move tending to fade within hours or sessions when no kinetic follow-through materialises, and to extend when a strike actually lands and the retaliation calculus begins. The distinction worth drawing is between a unilateral Israeli operation against a proxy or non-state target, which prior episodes suggest markets digest relatively quickly, and direct confrontation with Iran, which carries the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf supply risk premium that drives the more durable energy repricing. Verbal readiness declarations have historically been as much about deterrence signalling and negotiating leverage as about imminent action, which is why the tells are physical rather than rhetorical: tanker insurance rates, regional airspace closures, embassy drawdowns, and US force posture in the region. The follow-ons are any statement from Tehran or Washington, movements in Brent and WTI term structure rather than just the front month, and whether haven FX flows persist beyond the initial headline pass.