Netanyahu: Israel Today Has More Freedom of Action in Iran Than Ever

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant attend a ceremony for the 70th cohort of military combat officers, at an army base near Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, October 31, 2024. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant attend a ceremony for the 70th cohort of military combat officers, at an army base near Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, October 31, 2024. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
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Netanyahu: Israel Today Has More Freedom of Action in Iran Than Ever

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant attend a ceremony for the 70th cohort of military combat officers, at an army base near Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, October 31, 2024. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant attend a ceremony for the 70th cohort of military combat officers, at an army base near Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, October 31, 2024. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

Israel is able to reach anywhere in Iran should the need arise, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.

Netanyahu, in a speech to new military officers, said that Israel has unprecedented freedom of action following its recent airstrikes against Iran.

"Israel today has more freedom of action in Iran than ever. We can reach any place in Iran as necessary," Netanyahu said. "The supreme goal I gave to the Israel Defense Forces and the security branches is to prevent Iran from achieving a nuclear weapon."

Israel attacked military targets in Iran with pre-dawn airstrikes Saturday in retaliation for the barrage of ballistic missiles Iran fired on Israel earlier this month. It was the first time Israel’s military has openly attacked Iran.

Israel is widely thought to be behind a limited airstrike in April near a major air base in Iran that hit the radar system for a Russian-made air defense battery. Iran had earlier fired a wave of missiles and drones at Israel, causing minimal damage, after two Iranian generals were killed in an apparent Israeli airstrike on an Iranian diplomatic post in Syria.



Russia Launches Scores of Drones on Ukraine, Four People Injured, Kyiv Says

A handout photo made available by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine shows the site of a drone attack on a storage building in Kyiv, Ukraine, 12 April 2025, amid the ongoing Russian invasion. EPA/STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE OF UKRAINE  HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine shows the site of a drone attack on a storage building in Kyiv, Ukraine, 12 April 2025, amid the ongoing Russian invasion. EPA/STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE OF UKRAINE HANDOUT
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Russia Launches Scores of Drones on Ukraine, Four People Injured, Kyiv Says

A handout photo made available by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine shows the site of a drone attack on a storage building in Kyiv, Ukraine, 12 April 2025, amid the ongoing Russian invasion. EPA/STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE OF UKRAINE  HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine shows the site of a drone attack on a storage building in Kyiv, Ukraine, 12 April 2025, amid the ongoing Russian invasion. EPA/STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE OF UKRAINE HANDOUT

Russia launched a barrage of drones in an overnight attack on Ukraine, injuring four people and damaging residential and commercial buildings in Kyiv and other parts of the country, Ukrainian officials said on Saturday. Ukraine's air defenses shot down 56 of 88 Russian drones, its air force said. It added that 24 drones were "lost" as the military used electronic warfare to redirect them.
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitchko said that three people were injured in the capital as a result of the drone attacks, Reuters said.
Drone debris also destroyed a private house and damaged several commercial buildings, causing large fires in different parts of Kyiv, city officials said.
One more person was wounded in the city of Kharkiv in the northeast, Kharkiv's mayor, Ihor Terekhov, said.
Regional officials also said that residential and commercial buildings were damaged in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, and the military reported damage in the Odesa region in the south.