Air raid sirens sounded Thursday evening across central Israel, the Sharon region and parts of the West Bank after missiles were launched from Iran.
The IDF said the launches landed in open areas in accordance with interception policy. Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service said it had received no reports of injuries.
The alerts came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held his first Zoom briefing with Israeli journalists in 13 days since the start of the war with Iran.
Netanyahu said Israel and the United States had achieved significant results in the campaign, which he said strengthen Israel’s standing “as a regional power and, in certain respects, a global power.” He said he and U.S. President Donald Trump had previously warned Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that if Tehran attempted to rebuild what he called its “industries of death,” Israel would respond forcefully.
“Not only did he not listen,” Netanyahu said, referring to Khamenei, “he accelerated efforts to rebuild them and bury them deep underground, under high mountains.” He said Israel launched its current campaign to prevent Iran from developing ballistic missiles and to stop it from making its military infrastructure immune to attack.
Asked about Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the Iranian supreme leader who is sometimes mentioned as a possible successor, Netanyahu called him “a puppet of the Revolutionary Guards who cannot show his face in public,” adding that he “wouldn’t take out a life insurance policy on any of the leaders” in the region.
Netanyahu declined to say whether Israel is helping arm Iranian regime opponents but said Israel is working to create conditions that could lead to the fall of the Islamic Republic. “I can’t say with certainty the Iranian people will overthrow the regime, but we can certainly help,” he said.
He also said Israel is working to deepen alliances in the Middle East and continuing to strike Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Basij militia. Addressing the Iranian public, Netanyahu said, “The moment you can set out on a new path of freedom is getting closer.”
On the renewed fighting with Iran following Israel’s declaration of victory in Operation Rising Lion in June 2025, Netanyahu said Israel’s objectives remain clear: to severely damage Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs and prevent them from being moved underground.
Netanyahu also addressed renewed Hezbollah fire from Lebanon, saying Israel had already dealt the group a major blow in the previous campaign, when Israeli officials warned that Hezbollah’s arsenal of roughly 150,000 rockets could cause mass casualties and destruction in Israel.
“That scenario did not materialize,” Netanyahu said. “We dealt them a heavy blow, but that doesn’t mean there is no residual firepower left. We will deal with that as well.” He warned the Lebanese government that it is “playing with fire” if it continues to allow Hezbollah to operate despite commitments to dismantle the group.
Netanyahu also commented on recent remarks by Trump criticizing Israeli President Isaac Herzog over the issue of a possible pardon related to Netanyahu’s corruption trial. The prime minister said he would not address statements made by a U.S. president but argued the case against him should end.
“I speak respectfully about every president, including President Herzog,” Netanyahu said. “But I think this trial should stop. It’s a persecution trial. President Herzog is free to make his decision without pressure — he simply needs to do the right thing and end this absurd circus.”