And why are they reporting this?
To see where the defensive measures are being beefed up. It will give Isreal intellegence via satellite, on where activity increases; targets.
Isreal will be fed satellite data from 'guess who'. And just for good measures, 'guess who' will supply some intelligent bombs and missles...
Could be their testing the waters to see how much resistance/heat they will get from the Russians and Chinese.
I would hope they do this sooner than later.
because the Sunday Times hates Israel and wants to do everything possible to forestall the operation
I do not think the top Isreali Brass really wears their top secret plans on their sleeves.