Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that the attacks on Iran had deterred the Islamic Republic from further strikes, leading to a suspension of hostilities between the two countries. At the same time, he threatened that if Tehran attacks again, Israel will respond with force. TASR informs about it according to the reports of the AFP agency and The Times of Israel (TOI) portal.
“Currently, the fighting on this front has been suspended because after the terrorist regime in Tehran was hit, it stopped attacking us,” Netanyahu said in his first statement after Iran attacked Israel on Sunday, which responded with retaliatory strikes. On Monday, the Islamic Republic announced the end of its attacks.
“Today, Iran and (the pro-Iranian Lebanese militant movement) Hezbollah are weaker than ever. But our fight against them is not over,” stated the prime minister. According to Netanyahu, Tehran and Hezbollah thought they could attack Israel from Lebanon and Iran, and the Jewish state would not respond to these attacks. “That didn’t happen and it won’t happen. Not during my time in office,” he declared.
In addition, the Prime Minister indicated that he also conveyed this message to US President Donald Trump, who in recent days has been pressuring Israel to de-escalate the situation. Trump also called for a halt to the fighting on Monday. According to Netanyahu, Israel has the right to self-defense and will exercise this right whenever necessary. “I say this to you, dear citizens of Israel, just as I say this in my good conversations with my friend President Trump,” he added.
An unnamed White House official said Monday that Trump had called Netanyahu. According to AFP, this comes amid media reports of increasingly strained relations between the US president and the Israeli prime minister, with Trump telling Netanyahu in a recent phone call that he was “completely insane”.
Iran’s Joint Military Command announced on Monday that they have ended military operations against Israel. However, Tehran has reportedly warned that it will accept “much tougher measures”, if Israel undertakes “aggressive and hostile actions” against him or in southern Lebanon.
Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Kac declared that the army will continue its military operation in Lebanon. “Dahiya and Beirut will be treated the same as the northern communities,” claims the minister, referring to the communities in the north of Israel, which are exposed to Hezbollah attacks from neighboring Lebanon.
According to him, any attack on northern communities will lead to strikes on Dahiya – a Beirut suburb that is a stronghold of the militant Hezbollah movement. According to the defense minister, Israel “categorically rejects” threats from Iran. “Any Iranian attempt to unite Lebanon and Iran and attack Israel will be met with great force, as it was yesterday.” he added.
