Israel announces new phase in Iran conflict as US warns strikes will 'surge dramatically'

 

Israeli attacks hit the Iranian capital Tehran overnight as the IDF announced a “new stage” in its campaign against Iran, with US and Israeli officials hinting at escalating strikes.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief of staff Lt Gen Eyal Zamir said his military has completed the initial stage of “surprise opening blow” and that it was “now moving to the next phase of the campaign” with surprises ahead.

“We will intensify the strike on the foundations of the regime and its military capabilities,” he said in a statement carried by the Times of Israel.

“We have additional surprising moves in our hands, which I do not intend to reveal.”

His remarks followed an announcement by US defence secretary Pete Hegseth that “firepower over Iran and over Tehran is about to surge dramatically”.

US president Donald Trump has ruled out sending troops to Iran, saying it would be a “waste of time”, but indicated he would like to see Iran’s leadership structure removed. “We want to go in and clean out everything,” he said.

The IDF also conducted renewed strikes against what it described as Hezbollah strongholds in Beirut, the Lebanese capital. Hundreds of thousands of people in the southern suburbs of the city were ordered to leave their homes by the IDF yesterday, causing scenes of panic.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said they had fired missiles towards Tel Aviv after an earlier wave of explosions caused a blaze at a residential building in the city.