Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz echoed a pledge by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday morning, vowing to hold Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “accountable” for the devastating missile attacks rained down on Israeli civilians.
“We will exact the full price from the tyrants in Tehran,” Netanyahu vowed in response to the heavy barrage of Iranian missiles fired at Israel earlier in the day.
“The cowardly Iranian dictator sits deep in the depths of the fortified bunker and fires targeted shots at hospitals and residential buildings in Israel. These are war crimes of the most serious kind – and Khamenei will be held accountable for his crimes,” Katz said.
“The Prime Minister and I have instructed the IDF to increase the intensity of attacks against strategic targets in Iran and against government targets in Tehran to remove threats to the State of Israel and undermine the ayatollahs’ regime,” he added.
Since the beginning of Operation Rising Lion, and as of 9 am Thursday, Iran has fired more than 400 missiles and hundreds of suicide drones at the State of Israel.
More than 40 missiles succeeded in hitting targets within Israeli territory, with devastating results.
At least 24 people have been killed and 838 more were injured in the Iranian missile attacks. Eleven victims are listed in serious condition, 42 are hospitalized with moderate wounds and 785 others sustained minor injuries.
Israel’s Tax Authority has received 22,932 damage claims: 18,890 claims are related to building damage; 1,827 claims are for vehicle damage and 2,215 claims are related to other property damage.
More than 5,000 people have been forced to evacuate from their homes.
