Rescue workers operate in a damaged building following an Iranian missile strike in the Israeli city of Bat Yam, south of Tel Aviv, on June 15, 2025. (Credit: Jack Guez/AFP.)
BEIRUT — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Iran on Sunday that it would pay "a very heavy price for the deliberate killing of civilians" in Israel, where ten people were killed overnight by Iranian missile strikes.
"Iran will pay a very heavy price for the deliberate killing of civilians, women and children," Netanyahu said during a visit to Bat Yam, a city south of Tel Aviv hit the previous day by missile strikes, in a video message released by his office.
The salvos of missiles fired by Iran on Saturday night and early Sunday morning killed 10 people and injured more than 200 in Israel, according to rescue services and police, and caused damage and destruction.
"Israel absolutely had to conduct this operation," added Netanyahu, referring to the unprecedented attack launched since Friday morning on Iran's military and nuclear sites, with the stated goal of preventing the Islamic Republic from obtaining nuclear weapons.
"We will achieve all our objectives [and] we will eliminate the double existential threat," he further said during his visit amidst the rubble in Bat Yam, referring to the Iranian nuclear program and the Iranian missile strikes in retaliation for the Israeli attack.
Israel continues attacks on southern Lebanon, demolishes buildings in Bint Jbeil