Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a vote to elect Israel's next state comptroller at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, June 3, 2026. (Credit: Ronen Zvulun/ Reuters )
BEIRUT — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Iran and Hezbollah are "weaker than ever," while also stating that the war against them "is not over yet."
In a televised address to Israelis, Netanyahu warned that "if Iran attacks us again, we will respond with force." He also accused Iran and Hezbollah of trying to impose a "new equation" over the past 24 hours, stating that Israel would not allow either Lebanon or Iran to attack it without facing consequences.
After ordering strikes against Iran in retaliation for Iranian missile fire on his country, despite openly stated objections from U.S. President Donald Trump, Netanyahu said that his country "has every right to defend itself, and we exercise this right whenever necessary," adding, "I am telling this to you, as I say with appreciation and respect in my excellent exchanges with my friend President Trump."
The Israeli prime minister added that the Israeli strikes on Iran — the first since the April cease-fire — had made it possible to stop the Iranian missile fire. "At the moment, hostilities on this front have ceased, because after the blows we dealt to the terrorist regime in Tehran, it has stopped attacking us," he said.
Iran fired missiles at Israel Sunday night and Monday, saying it was acting in retaliation for an Israeli strike against Hezbollah in the southern suburbs of Beirut, which in turn prompted Israeli strikes. In announcing the end of its missile fire Monday afternoon, Tehran warned that Israel would face "much harsher measures" if it continued "acts of aggression ... including in southern Lebanon."
