Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that his country is not ruling out the possibility of targeting Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the Middle East conflict entered its fourth day of escalation.
In an interview with ABC News on Monday, Netanyahu stated that Israel's military strikes on Iran are intended to prevent the country's aggression against the wider world.
"It is not going to escalate the conflict but will end it. We have a half-conflict that is spread by this regime that has terrorised the region," Netanyahu said. "What Israel is doing is preventing this aggression. We can only do so by standing up against the forces of evil."
Escalating Military Actions
The Israeli military issued its first evacuation warning for Iran's capital on Monday, urging residents to immediately leave a northeastern district of Tehran ahead of planned attacks on "military infrastructure" in the "coming hours."
Netanyahu claimed that Israel's military had taken "full control of skies" as its missiles struck Iran's capital, Tehran. The Israeli Defense Forces announced they were targeting surface-to-surface missile sites in central Iran and reported hitting command centers for Iran's Quds Force, the branch of the Revolutionary Guard that coordinates support for proxy forces across the region.
Meanwhile, Iran continued its attacks on Israel, launching missiles early Monday that killed at least eight people and injured dozens more, according to the Israeli prime minister's office.
Mounting Casualties
The human toll of the conflict continues to rise. Iran's Health Ministry spokesman Hossein Kermanpour reported at least 224 people have been killed in Iran since the attacks began. The Israeli prime minister's office has reported 24 deaths in total since the conflict escalated last Friday.
The international community watches with growing concern as the situation threatens to draw in more regional powers and potentially disrupt global oil supplies and diplomatic relations.
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