Tel Aviv [Israel]: Israel began a preemptive strike against Iran on June 13, Israel Defence Minister Israel Katz said, as per The Times of Israel.
Katz declared an emergency situation across the country due to Israel’s action in Iran.
“Following the State of Israel’s preemptive strike against Iran, a missile and drone attack against the State of Israel and its civilian population is expected in the immediate future,” The Times of Israel quoted Katz as saying.
Katz said that he signed “a special order, according to which a special state of emergency will be imposed in the home front throughout the entire State of Israel.”
“You must obey the instructions of the Home Front Command and the authorities and remain in the protected areas,” Katz added, as per The Times of Israel.
Israel is currently striking Iran’s capital, Tehran.
Follow: @AFpost pic.twitter.com/YzYr0CneRz
— AF Post (@AFpost) June 13, 2025
Sirens wailed across Israel as the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened his security cabinet, as Israel began the airstrikes.
As per the Times of Israel, the IDF Home Front Command clarified that the sirens that wailed across Israel a few minutes ago were intended to convey to Israelis that the country is entering “a new situation,” the Home Front Command’s Tzvika Tessler clarified. There has been no attack launched at Israel at this time, he says.
Tessler said that, in the coming few hours, Israel could experience “a significant attack from the east.”
These could be “heavy missiles” that could reach anywhere in the country. “We will give far-reaching warnings,” he said.
The IDF confirmed that it launched an aerial campaign against Iran’s nuclear program, as per the Times of Israel.
A statement from IDF Spokesperson BG Effie Defrin on the preemptive Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear targets pic.twitter.com/IJNT5LXz6o
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 13, 2025
The spokesperson BG Effie Defrin said on Friday the strikes aimed at damaging Iran’s nuclear program and in response to the Iranian regime’s ongoing aggression against Israel.
“For years, the Iranian regime has called for the destruction of the State of Israel, planning and advancing concrete military plans to do so. Over the past few months, intelligence has shown that Iran is closer than ever to obtaining a nuclear weapon. This morning, the IDF began pre-emptive and precise strikes targeting the Iranian nuclear program in order to prevent the Iranian regime’s ability to build a nuclear bomb in the immediate timeframe,” he said.
He said the airstrikes were aimed at protecting Israel’s right to exist and for their future.
“We have no choice. We are operating against an imminent and existential threat. We cannot allow the Iranian regime to obtain a nuclear weapon that would be a danger to Israel and the entire world. This operation is for our right to exist here, for our future and for our children’s future. The State of Israel has the right and the obligation to operate in order to protect its people and will continue to do so,” he said.
Defrin said that Israel is prepared in both- offensive as well as defensive way to defend itself.
“The IDF conducted significant preparations for this operation. We are well prepared both in defence and offense to defend ourselves. The IDF will continue to defend the State of Israel,” he said.
(With inputs from ANI)
