Iran-Israel war: Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz on Thursday announced that his country is prepared to resume its military campaign against Iran “with even greater force” if needed. The stark warning comes as fresh clashes erupt between the United States and Iran, threatening a fragile April ceasefire and a subsequent June US-Iran agreement designed to end hostilities. Raising widespread fears of a return to full-scale war, Katz emphasized that the Israeli military remains fully alert and ready to eliminate emerging threats.
“The army is ready and on alert for a resumption of fighting, in order to regain air superiority and strike again… in Iran, to eliminate threats, including a third time if necessary,” Katz said at a military ceremony.
“If we have to go back, we will go back, with even greater force,” he added.
Also read: US strikes Iran again; Trump warns of tougher response, says ‘Will get much worse’
Netanyahu vows to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, boost arms production
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel would not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons and would expand domestic arms production to reduce dependence on foreign purchases.
“Our policy is clear: with an agreement or without an agreement, Iran will not have nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu said at an air force pilots’ graduation ceremony.
If the United States and Israel had not launched the strikes on Iran, “Iran would have armed itself,” he said, Xinhua news agency reported. Netanyahu also announced plans to add 350 billion shekels (about 116 billion US dollars) to the defence budget over the next decade.
“A large part of this will go to the air force, but within it we will also develop a broad Israeli-made munitions industry,” he said, adding that the move would “reduce dependence on purchases from abroad.”
The remarks came as the United States and Iran exchanged new strikes, with US President Donald Trump saying a deal with Tehran was “over.”
Israel’s military chief, Eyal Zamir, said Israel was “closely monitoring developments in Iran and Lebanon and ready for immediate action,” while Defence Minister Israel Katz said the military was “alert and ready for the resumption of the campaign.”
(With inputs from agencies)
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