Netanyahu: Israel “Crushing” Iran & Escalating Conflict | Latest Updates
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to pursue senior commanders of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps “personally” following recent Iranian strikes that wounded over 100 Israelis, according to statements made even as visiting towns hit by the attacks.
The strikes on Dimona and Arad, located near Israel’s main nuclear research center, prompted Netanyahu to declare that Israel was “winning the battle” and “crushing” the enemy. He also called on other nations to join what he characterized as a fight against a “terrorist, fanatic regime of zealots.”
The escalation follows a retaliatory pattern initiated by Iran, which stated its Dimona strike was in response to an earlier Israeli attack on Natanz, Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility, as reported by the Iranian news agency Mizan.
The conflict is unfolding against a backdrop of diverging opinions between President Donald Trump and Netanyahu regarding Israel’s targeting of Iranian energy infrastructure. Trump reportedly told Netanyahu, “I told him, ’Don’t do that,’” referring to the attack on the South Pars gas field, adding, “We acquire along great. It’s coordinated, but on occasion he’ll do something. And if I don’t like it — and so we’re not doing that anymore.”
Netanyahu acknowledged acting “alone” in the gas field strike and affirmed his agreement to Trump’s request to refrain from further attacks on the facility. Still, the differing stances have raised questions about the synchronization of the U.S. And Israeli strategies in the ongoing conflict.
The attack on the South Pars gas field prompted Iran to retaliate against energy infrastructure in other Middle Eastern countries, contributing to a surge in global energy prices and prompting Gulf allies to urge Trump to restrain Netanyahu, according to reports.
During an Oval Office meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Trump stated he neither agreed with nor approved of Israel’s attack on the world’s largest gas field. The U.S. And Israel are reportedly working together, with Netanyahu stating they are doing so for “the entire world,” and calling on other nations to join their efforts.
Adding to the regional tensions, Iran reportedly fired an intercontinental ballistic missile at a U.S.-U.K. Base on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, according to Netanyahu.