Israeli defense chief says Iran residents ‘will pay the price’

Israeli defense minister Israel Katz appeared to try and clarify warnings to civilians in Tehran after saying that they would “pay the price and soon.”

Though Israel does not want to “physically harm” civilians, Katz said on X that Tehran residents “will be forced to pay the price of the dictatorship and evacuate their homes from areas where it will be necessary to attack regime targets and security infrastructures.”

Katz earlier accused Iran of targeting Israeli civilians in its overnight attacks, and then appeared to threaten Iranian civilians, saying “residents of Iran will pay the price.”

At least three people were killed after an Iranian missile hit a residential building in the central Israeli town of Petah Tikva, according to Israeli police. One resident said that after they heard the air raid sirens, they only had about two minutes to shelter before the missile struck.

President Donald Trump had opposed Israeli military action against Iran, favoring negotiations over bombing. But in the days before the strikes began, he became convinced that Israel’s heightened anxiety over Iran’s nuclear enrichment capabilities was warranted.

After a pivotal briefing from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, on Israel’s plans and U.S. options for supporting its operation, he gave tacit approval to Israel to have at it and decided to provide limited U.S. backing.

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At least 24 people have been killed in Israel since Iran launched its retaliatory strikes, Netanyahu’s office said today in a statement. Almost 600 people have been injured in the attacks, including 10 who were seriously wounded, it said.

At least three people have been killed in central Israel, according to Magen David Adom, Israel’s national emergency service.

Two women and one man in their 70s were killed, and 74 people were injured, it said today in a post on X.

Photos and videos published by MDA in its earlier posts showed damaged buildings and rescuers holding infants.

At least 224 people have been killed since Israel began striking Iran on Friday, Iranian state media reported, with civilians making up more than 90% of the casualties.

Iran has no intention of developing nuclear weapons, the president of Iran said, state media reported, reiterating the country’s long-standing claim about its nuclear program.

President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran, however, “has the right to use nuclear energy and research and no one has the right to take it away from us.”

Israel says the aim of its military campaign is to eliminate Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs and the “existential threat” it would face if Iran were to successfully develop an atomic bomb. Iran says its programs are for peaceful purposes only.

The Israeli military said it had struck command centers in Tehran belonging to the Quds Force, the overseas arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

Operatives in the command centers “advanced terrorist attacks against the State of Israel using the proxies of the Iranian Regime in the Middle East,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.

The Quds Force oversees ties with Iran-backed militias in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and the Palestinian territories.

Iran has not commented on the strikes. While Quds Force positions in Syria had been targeted multiple times, this would mark the first time their command centers and bases have been struck inside Tehran.

Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, accused Iran of targeting Israeli civilians in its overnight attacks.

He then appeared to threaten Iranian civilians, saying “residents of Iran will pay the price.”

Iran has executed a man convicted of spying for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, Reuters reported, citing Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency.

The man, identified as Esmail Fekri, is the third person Iran has executed in recent weeks in connection with accusations of espionage on behalf of Israel.

Iranian police in Alborz province said earlier that they had arrested two Mossad operatives, Iranian state media reported.

The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and the embassy branch in Tel Aviv will be officially closed today as military tensions continue to escalate between Israel and Iran.

No U.S. staffers have been injured, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said in a post on X, though there has been “some minor damage from concussions of Iranian missile hits” near the Tel Aviv branch.

The U.S. Embassy has directed all U.S. government employees and their family members to shelter in place in and near their residences until further notice, it said in a statement.

Trump said he hoped for a deal between Israel and Iran as he headed to Canada for a meeting of world leaders where the conflict is high on the agenda.

“I hope there’s going to be a deal. I think it’s time for a deal, and we’ll see what happens. But sometimes they have to fight it out,” Trump told reporters before he left the White House for a summit of the Group of 7 major economies in Canada.

At least 224 people have been killed in Iran since the Israeli strikes started Friday, Iranian state media reported.

More than 90% of the casualties are civilians, according to Iran’s semiofficial Mehr News Agency, which cited a spokesperson for the health ministry.

The Israeli military said it had begun a series of strikes on dozens of surface-to-surface missile targets in western Iran.

It later said missiles had been launched from Iran, instructing the public to seek shelter. Sirens sounded in several places across Israel.

The Israeli military said it was “operating to intercept and strike where necessary to eliminate the threat.”

A day of strikes across both countries included a rare daytime attack on the Iranian capital, Tehran, where streets were jammed with traffic as residents tried to flee.