Israel's defence minister Yisrael Katz said in an interview with Israel's Channel 14 on Saturday, 17 October 2026, that Israel's work with the Islamic Republic is not yet finished and that the country's army is ready to resume attacks "with full force". According to him, this time the Islamic Republic's energy facilities will also be on the target list.
In the same interview, Katz said that during the recent war the United States and Israel dropped a total of about 35,000 bombs and munitions on targets of the Islamic Republic, most of it Israel's share. He called striking the energy infrastructure necessary to push back this government's capabilities, and added that after the fall of the Islamic Republic, the countries of the region will move towards normalising relations with Israel.
Netanyahu: removing the Islamic Republic has a few more steps
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with i24 the same day that he is committed to removing the Islamic Republic and knows how to do it, but that "a few more steps" remain. He stressed that he will never accept a nuclear-armed Islamic Republic. Netanyahu had earlier also said that the only way is to get rid of the Islamic Republic.
The remarks come as the newspaper Israel Hayom wrote on Thursday, 15 October, that discussions in Washington and Jerusalem about resuming attacks on the Islamic Republic have become more serious. It had also been reported earlier that over the past two weeks Netanyahu has spoken several times with Donald Trump about resuming large-scale attacks on the Islamic Republic's military and nuclear targets.
The timing of the elections in Israel and the United States
Israel's parliamentary election will be held on 27 October and the US congressional midterm elections on Tuesday, 3 November. Donald Trump had said last week that he would not attack the Islamic Republic before the midterms; although in recent days he has said the war with the Islamic Republic will end very soon. US War Secretary Pete Hegseth had also said on Saturday that the Islamic Republic must choose between a nuclear deal and ruin.
In recent months Katz had repeatedly said that Israel wants to strike the Islamic Republic's energy infrastructure but that Washington had not agreed, out of concern about an oil crisis in the region. His latest remarks show that military pressure on the Islamic Republic is rising, together with the American naval blockade and the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz.
Israel's defence minister says that in the next round of attacks the Islamic Republic's energy facilities will also be targeted.
Comments
No comments yet. Be the first.