Jerusalem: Israel’s military chief, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, vowed on Tuesday to hit Iran “very hard” if it retaliates against Israel for recent attacks. He warned that if Iran again launches ballistic missiles at Israel, then the military will respond using “abilities we didn’t use” in the strikes last week.
“If Iran makes the mistake and launches another barrage of missiles at Israel, we will once again know how to reach Iran, reach even with capabilities that we did not use this time, and hit very, very hard both the capabilities and in places that we left aside this time,” Halevi said to air crews at the Ramon Air Base.
“We did this for a very simple reason — because we may be required to do it again. We didn’t finish this event; we are right in the middle of it,” Halevi added.
Addressing military personnel who took part in the weekend strike, he mentioned that certain targets had been set aside “because we may be required to do this again.” “This event is not over; we are still in the midst of it,” Halevi added, according to a statement issued by the military.
On Saturday, Israeli fighter jets carried out pre-dawn air strikes against Iranian military targets and missile production facilities in retaliation for a major ballistic missile attack by Tehran earlier this month. That attack, involving around 200 missiles, was itself launched in retaliation for the killing of several Tehran-aligned militant leaders, including Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, and a Revolutionary Guards commander.
Iran confirmed that the Israeli attack had targeted military sites in the capital Tehran and other parts of the country, but said it had caused “limited damage.” In a post on X, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stated that Israel’s attack “should neither be exaggerated nor minimised,” describing it as a “miscalculation” without elaborating further.
The missile barrage was the second-ever direct attack by Iran on Israel, following a similar barrage in April. Israel reportedly retaliated for that attack the same month.
Earlier on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Iran was seeking to develop a “stockpile” of nuclear bombs aimed at destroying his country. “Iran is striving to develop a stockpile of nuclear bombs to destroy us, equipped with long-range missiles, intercontinental missiles that Iran is trying to develop,” Netanyahu said.
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