Israel’s airstrikes significantly impacted Iran‘s defense systems and missile production capabilities, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday. In contrast, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei cautioned against overstating the effects of Saturday’s assault.

As conflict continues in Gaza and Lebanon, the potential for direct confrontation between Israel and Iran poses a risk of escalating into a broader regional conflict. Nevertheless, a day after the airstrikes, there were no indications that they would lead to further escalation.

Meanwhile, intense clashes in Lebanon between Israeli forces and Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran, persisted on Sunday. Reports indicated that an Israeli airstrike resulted in the deaths of eight individuals in a residential area of Sidon, according to medical sources. Netanyahu described the air force operations as having targeted Iran comprehensively, asserting that they effectively diminished Iran’s defense capabilities and its missile production aimed at Israel. He characterized the operation as “precise and powerful,” claiming it achieved all its intended goals.

Khamenei says Israel’s attack on Iran should neither be minimized nor exaggerated

The Islamic Republic has yet to indicate its response to the anticipated strikes that occurred on Saturday, which involved numerous fighter jets targeting locations near Tehran and in the western provinces of Ilam and Khuzestan. For months, these heavily armed adversaries have been locked in a cycle of retaliatory actions, with Saturday’s assault following an Iranian missile attack on October 1, most of which Israel claimed to have intercepted with its air defense systems.

Khamenei remarked that Israel’s strategic calculations “should be disrupted.” He emphasized that the recent attack on Iran, which resulted in the deaths of four soldiers and inflicted some damage, “should neither be minimized nor exaggerated.” Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf asserted that Iran has the right to self-defense and that its response “will be decisive, in accordance with the circumstances.”

U.S. President Joe Biden urged for a cessation of the escalating tensions, which have heightened concerns about a broader conflict in the Middle East stemming from the ongoing Israeli-Hamas situation in Gaza and Israel’s military actions in southern Lebanon aimed at curbing Hezbollah’s rocket attacks on northern Israel.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant stated that Iran can no longer effectively utilize its allies, Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, against Israel. He remarked in a speech that these groups “are no longer an effective tool” for Tehran. Gallant further noted that Hamas is no longer operating as a military entity in Gaza, and that Hezbollah has lost much of its senior command and missile capabilities.

Despite these claims, Hamas has asserted its continued military operational capacity, while Israel has recently launched significant operations in northern Gaza targeting what it describes as regrouping Hamas fighters. Hezbollah, on the other hand, maintains that its command structure is intact and that it still possesses considerable missile capabilities.

In related developments, the Israeli military has called for the immediate evacuation of residents from 14 villages in southern Lebanon, advising them to move north of the Awali River. An Israeli airstrike in Sidon, a coastal city in southern Lebanon, resulted in at least eight fatalities and 25 injuries, according to the country’s health ministry. Additional strikes in the region included one in Zawtar al-Sharkiya that killed three and another in Marjayoun that claimed five lives.

Israel reported that four of its soldiers lost their lives in the ongoing conflict in southern Lebanon. In response, Hezbollah announced that it had launched a significant missile barrage at the Zevulon military industries facility located north of Haifa in northern Israel. The rockets struck a residential area, damaging a house and vehicles, prompting rescue teams to respond to extinguish the resulting fire. One woman sustained serious injuries, as reported by Israel’s ambulance service.