Israel Katz warns strikes on Iran to intensify

Israeli 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, Report informs via The Times of Israel.

His announcement came after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) 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.

On February 28, the United States and Israel launched military operations against Iran. As a result, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several senior officials were killed. Following this, Iran began striking targets not only in Israel but also at US and allied military bases located in Gulf countries. Due to the situation in the Middle East, some regional states temporarily closed their airspace. Shortly after launching a joint operation against Iran, armed conflict between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Hezbollah resumed.