Planned airstrikes on Iran will make the world understand Israel’s military might, the country’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, has warned.
The Middle East has been braced for more than three weeks for a threatened Israeli response to Iran’s 1 October missile attack, which was in turn a reprisal for Israel’s killing of the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
Gallant visited aircrews at Hatzerim airbase on Wednesday, and made clear that Israel still intended to strike back.
“After we attack in Iran, they will understand in Israel and elsewhere what your preparations have included,” Gallant told the crews in a video distributed by his office.
On X, Gallant added more of his conversation with the air force personnel.
“In my conversation with them I emphasised – after we attack Iran, everyone will understand your might, the process of preparation and training – any enemy that tries to harm the state of Israel will pay a heavy price,” the minister said.
The extent of Israel’s target list has been the subject of protacted conversations between Israel’s leaders and the Biden administration, which has urged them not to strike Iran’s oil industry infrastructure or its nuclear programme. Washington fears a cycle of escalation, particularly in the last two weeks before the US presidential election.
Israel is already fighting on multiple fronts. In Lebanon on Wednesday, Hezbollah confirmed the death of Hashem Safieddine, who was expected to be Nasrallah’s successor. Israel claimed Safieddine had been killed in an airstrike earlier this month, alongside Ali Hussein Huzima, the head of Hezbollah’s intelligence unit.
