Defense Minister Israel Katz warned on Friday that Israel would ramp up its strikes on Iran in the coming days, citing continued Iranian ballistic missile fire at civilian targets in Israel, despite US President Donald Trump’s apparent efforts to bring the hostilities to a halt.
His announcement came after the Israel Defense Forces announced earlier in the day that the Israeli Air Force had bombed a key Iranian naval missile and mine production site, as well as ballistic missile factories and air defense systems.
Iran, in turn, kept up its attacks on Israel and the Gulf states, after issuing a less-than-warm response on Thursday to Trump’s proposed deal to end the war. Despite this, diplomats from several interested countries suggested that indirect negotiations between Washington and Tehran were still on the table.
“The prime minister and I warned the Iranian terror regime to stop the missile fire toward the civilian population in Israel,” Katz said during an assessment with military officials. “Despite the warnings, the fire continues, and therefore IDF strikes in Iran will intensify and expand to additional targets and domains that assist the regime in building and operating weapons against Israeli civilians.”
He warned that Tehran would “pay heavy and increasing prices for this war crime,” according to remarks provided by his office.
The majority of ballistic missiles launched at Israel by Iran have had cluster bomb warheads, which indiscriminately spread dozens of small munitions over a wide area.
The munitions do not have their own propulsion or guidance and simply fall to the ground, where they are designed to explode on impact. Some of the submunitions do not explode upon hitting the ground, and can then still pose a danger to anyone who happens upon them.
The use of cluster bombs is prohibited under the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, although neither Iran nor Israel is a party to the agreement.
Key naval weapons site targeted
Earlier on Friday, the IDF said the Air Force had bombed Iran’s “most central” facility for producing naval weapons, located in Yazd, central Iran.
The facility, the military said, was used by Iran to plan, develop, assemble and store “advanced missiles intended for launch from cruise vessels, submarines and helicopters toward mobile and stationary maritime targets.”
“This is a site where most of the missiles and naval mines are developed by the Iranian navy forces,” the military said.
It said the strike, carried out following intelligence provided by the Military Intelligence Directorate and Naval Intelligence Division, “constitutes a significant blow to the production capabilities of the naval forces.”
The strike marked yet another setback for Iran’s naval operations, after Israel killed the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ navy on Thursday, as well as other top officers.
Also on Friday, the IDF said the Air Force had bombed dozens of military targets in Iran overnight, including ballistic missile launch sites and Iranian soldiers whom it said had been preparing to carry out fire on Israel.
Also overnight, the IAF struck several ballistic missile launch sites — including one belonging to the IRGC — air defense systems, and surveillance posts of the IRGC and Iranian army, the military said.
The IDF said it also identified Iranian soldiers from Iran’s ballistic missile array at a building in Tehran. “Minutes after the identification, the Air Force struck and eliminated the soldiers who were planning to advance fire toward the State of Israel,” the military said.
Israel, Gulf face renewed fire
Meanwhile, after a nearly eight-hour lull, Iran renewed its ballistic missile fire on Israel on Friday morning, setting off sirens across southern Israel shortly before 11 a.m.
Another round of rocket fire, several hours later, set off alerts across central Israel, the Jerusalem area and the West Bank.
No injuries were reported in either attack, and in both instances, initial IDF assessments suggested that the missiles had been intercepted by air defenses.
Nor were the Gulf states spared from Iranian attacks on Friday, as both Kuwait and Saudi Arabia were hit with drones and missile fire.
Sirens also warned of attacks in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, as Iran warned civilians across the region to distance themselves from US forces in the area.
Kuwait’s port authority said in a statement on X that the country’s main commercial port, the Shuwaikh Port, was targeted at dawn “by enemy drones, preliminary reports revealed material damage but no human casualties.”
Hours later, the country’s Mubarak Al Kabeer Port also came under attack by drones and cruise missiles, causing “material damage” but no injuries, authorities said.
