Iran will pay ‘very heavy price’ for Israeli civilian deaths, warns Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Iran would pay “a very heavy price” for killing Israeli civilians, as the two foes kept up intense fighting.

“Iran will pay a very heavy price for the premeditated murder of civilians, women and children,” Netanyahu said during a visit to the site of a missile strike on a residential building in the coastal city of Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv, where six Israelis were killed and dozens more wounded.

“Iran will pay a very heavy price for the murder of civilians—women and children—that it carried out deliberately. We will achieve our objectives, and we will strike them with overwhelming force,” says Netanyahu, according to a readout from the Prime Minister’s Office.

Four other people were killed in the northern Arab town of Tamra.

“We are here because we are in an existential battle—one that is now clear to every citizen of Israel. Think about what would happen if Iran had a nuclear weapon to drop on Israel’s cities,” Netanyahu said.

“Think about what would happen if Iran had 20,000 missiles like this one—not one, but 20,000. That is an existential threat to Israel. That is why we launched a war of rescue… and we are doing so with strength. Our soldiers, our pilots, are above the skies of Iran,” he added.

“On behalf of the entire people of Israel, I express sorrow over the loss of life that occurred here,” said Netanyahu while urging Israeli citizens to follow the instructions of the Home Front Command during missile attacks.

“Protect your souls, protect your bodies, protect your lives—and together, with God’s help, we will win. We are on the path to victory,” he said, addressing the Israeli public.

After overnight attacks, Israeli authorities have raised the confirmed death toll from Iran’s missile strikes on Israel to 10.