Netanyahu threatens Tehran with paying the price after the massive Iranian missiles strike

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Iran had committed a “grave mistake” by bombing Israel on Tuesday evening with a barrage of ballistic missiles, threatening that it would “pay the price” for this bombing.

Netanyahu said, “The Iranian regime doesn’t understand our determination to defend ourselves and make our enemies pay the price… It seems that there are those in Tehran who don’t understand this… They will understand this,” stressing that “whoever attacks us, we will attack him”.

Other Israeli officials also threatened Iran on Tuesday evening that it would “pay a heavy price” for its missile attack on Israel.

For its part, the Israeli army announced that the attack launched by Iran on Tuesday evening with a barrage of ballistic missiles didn’t leave “any impact on the operational capability of the Israeli Air Force,” which “will strike hard tonight” in the Middle East.

“The air force continues to operate at full capacity, and tonight it will continue to deliver powerful strikes in the Middle East, as it has done throughout the past year,” said army spokesman Daniel Hagari, accusing Iran of “committing a dangerous act tonight that pushed the Middle East toward escalation”.

Hagari stressed that the Iranian bombing represents a “dangerous and serious escalation”.

“Iran’s attack is a dangerous and grave escalation and will have consequences,” he said, warning that “Iran and its proxies seek to destroy Israel”.

The Israeli military spokesman praised the effectiveness of the Israeli and US air defense systems that cooperated to confront Iranian ballistic missiles.

“The Israeli and US defense systems worked effectively… There was close cooperation in monitoring and interception,” he said.

Hagari refused to provide any details about the damage caused by the Iranian bombing and the operations to confront it.

“We’re still in the evaluation phase and we don’t want to provide the enemy with all the data,” he said.

Earlier, Israel’s Army Radio said Iran had fired 180 rockets, after previously estimating at least 200.

Sirens sounded in dozens of cities and towns in southern and central Israel, according to Haaretz newspaper and Israeli Channel 7, while army spokesman Daniel Hagari called in a televised statement not to circulate videos of Iranian missiles falling.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, head of the Religious Zionism party, wrote on X, “Like Gaza, Hezbollah and the state of Lebanon, Iran will regret this moment”.

Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar of Netanyahu’s Likud party also commented, saying, “The Iranian leader, who made the most wrong decision in his history, will pay a very heavy price, and this is the beginning of the end for the damned Iranian regime”.

The extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, head of the Jewish Power party, had not commented on the unprecedented attack by 20:00 (GMT), but his party member Almog Cohen said, “Iran has declared war on the State of Israel, and these stupid actions will open the gates of hell for them”.

Israeli opposition leaders called for a harsh response to Iran, with Yisrael Beiteinu party leader Avigdor Lieberman, “Israel must attack Iran immediately, bomb all oil, gas and nuclear facilities, and destroy refineries and dams”.

“It’s either us or them,” Lieberman, who previously served as defense minister, wrote on X.

For his part, opposition leader Yair Lapid said, “Israel is strong, Israel will win”.

The head of the State Camp, Benny Gantz, commented on X, “Iran has crossed the line again, and Israel has capabilities that have been developed over the years to strike Iran, and the government has full support to act with force and determination… It’s either us or them, and the mission is clear: whoever attacks will be attacked and will be hurt”.

Channel 12 reported that the Israeli army is scheduled to launch “strong strikes” against targets throughout the Middle East next night.

The Israeli army confirmed earlier that the Iranian attack will have consequences and that the military level in Israel has plans.

The US reportedly spotted Iranian movements early on and alerted the Israelis of the possibility of a major Iranian missile attack.

Meanwhile, the Israeli prime minister reportedly tried to contact Russian President Vladimir Putin to pressure the Iranians to stop them from launching any attack, but received no response from Moscow.

In Iran, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced that it had targeted military centers in Israel where plans were being made to assassinate Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and Iranian General Abbas Nilforshan.

This came in a new statement issued by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, on Tuesday, regarding the missile attacks on Israel.

The statement added that the operation, dubbed “True Promise 2,” targeted “strategic military installations in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel, and the targets were hit with a 90% success rate despite being protected by extensive defense systems”.

The statement indicated that the air bases and military centers where the assassinations of Haniyeh, Nasrallah, and Nilfourshan, who lost their lives in Israeli attacks, were planned, were also targeted.

The statement stressed that the Iranian response “was within the framework of the right to self-defense and based on international law, and that any stupidity by the enemies will be met with a devastating response”.

“In response to Israel’s assassination of Haniyeh and Nasrallah and its massacres in Gaza and Lebanon,” Iran announced on Tuesday that it had fired dozens of missiles at Israel (180 according to Tel Aviv’s estimate), causing human casualties, material damage, and the closure of airspace, while millions of Israelis rushed to shelters while sirens sounded throughout the country.