Netanyahu says Israel will ‘respond powerfully’ if attacks resume

An Iranian deputy foreign minister dismissed the EU’s new sanctions over the Strait of Hormuz as a “political and hypocritical” move, accusing the bloc of ignoring what he called a US naval blockade against Iran.

In a post on X, Kazem Gharibabadi vowed that Tehran would continue exercising sovereign rights over the waterway.

“Dahiyeh in Beirut will be treated the same as the northern communities,” Katz said, referring to the Hezbollah stronghold in southern Beirut.

“Any attack on the northern communities will lead to an attack in Dahiyeh. The IDF will continue to operate in Lebanon against the Hezbollah terror organization,” he added.

Katz said Israel “categorically rejects Iran’s threats.”

“Any Iranian attempt to link Lebanon and Iran and attack Israel will be met with great force, as happened yesterday,” he said.

Iran had earlier warned it would respond to any further Israeli “aggression” in Lebanon, including in the country’s south.

The Israeli defense minister's remarks came after sirens sounded in northern Israel's Zar'it area when a projectile was identified as falling in an area where Israeli forces were operating in southern Lebanon. The Israeli military said no casualties were reported.

The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council warned that if the “evil Zionist-American coalition makes another mistake, the region will become hell for it."

“Forty-seven years and one hundred days of resistance, from the battlefield to the city square, from the city square to politics and diplomacy, has transformed the world’s security order,” Mohammad-Bagher Zolghadr said.

“Look for a credible threat somewhere other than Washington and Tel Aviv,” he added. “If the evil Zionist-American coalition once again makes a mistake, the region will become hell for it."

He ended his statement by saying: “Greetings to the martyrs of Dahiyeh.”

Ali Khezrian, a member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security Committee, said the Islamic Republic would continue missile operations as long as its enemies keep violating the ceasefire on the “resistance front,” adding that Tehran would no longer tolerate breaches in Lebanon and southern Iran.

Khezrian said the enemy would try to suggest that the Islamic Republic entered a military confrontation while the war was limited to Lebanon, calling that claim “a lie.”

He said the ceasefire had been seriously violated not only in Lebanon but also in southern Iran.

Israel’s security cabinet decided to halt strikes in Iran but continue military operations in southern Lebanon, despite Tehran’s demand for a ceasefire across Lebanon, according to Israeli media.

The decision means the Israel Defense Forces will keep operating in southern Lebanon, even as Israel pauses attacks on Iranian targets.

After a lengthy security cabinet debate, ministers decided the IDF would keep clearing Hezbollah hideouts from villages in southern Lebanon’s security zone, though Israel’s next move remains unclear if Hezbollah continues firing, amid calls by some ministers to expand operations to Beirut’s Dahiyeh, Israel Hayom reported.