"Israel is ready to respond to Iran" - Katz

Katz: "Israel ready to respond to Iran"

Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz said on September 2 that Israel is ready to respond with great force if Iran attacks. The statement came after Iranian forces struck US military positions in the region.

Yisrael Katz said that Israeli forces are ready for a possible attack by Iran during the important Jewish holidays that begin in mid-September.

"So far, they are striking all over the region except Israel. But there is a possibility that they will attack us. We are ready for that from a defensive point of view," he told Israeli media.

"If Iran attacks, Israel will respond directly, with great force," Katz added.

He also said that planes were ready to take to the air.

Iran launched a series of attacks on US targets in the Middle East after a large-scale US airstrike on the night of September 2.

Israel, along with the US, launched a war against Iran in late February. However, Tel Aviv has remained militarily on the sidelines since President Donald Trump brokered a fragile truce in April.

"They like to attack on Jewish holidays because they hate Jews. Look at a lot of what has happened in the past. But we have been preparing for both defense and attack with the US," Katz said.

Iran's leaders are fiercely anti-Israel and support militant groups such as Hamas. But the Iranian government officially recognizes the country's Jewish community, which numbers thousands, under the constitution.

Israel assassinated Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei early in the war. A truce between the United States and Iran broke down after Iran attacked commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the gateway to the oil-rich Persian Gulf. Tehran sees the strait as its main tool of pressure.