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Katz: War with Tehran enters ‘decisive stretch’

Only the Iranian people can bring the conflict to an end by toppling the Islamist regime, the Israeli defense minister said.

Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (right) during a situational assessment at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv on March 7, 2026. Photo by Elad Malka/Israel Ministry of Defense.
Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (right) during a situational assessment at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv on March 7, 2026. Photo by Elad Malka/Israel Ministry of Defense.

The war against the Islamic Republic has entered the decisive stage, ultimately to be determined by the Iranian people, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday.

The Islamic regime’s terrorist acts are being met with Israel and the United States’ “strong and uncompromising steel force,” Katz said in a recorded statement during a situational assessment held with the heads of Israel’s defense establishment at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv.

“We are entering the decisive stretch of the conflict: between the regime’s attempts to survive—while causing increasing suffering to the Iranian people—and surrender,” the defense minister said.

He added that only the Iranian people can bring the conflict to an end “through determined struggle, until the fall of the terror regime and the salvation of Iran.”

Katz commended U.S. President Donald Trump for the “heavy blow delivered last night” against Iran’s Kharg Island, which is “an appropriate response to the mining of the Strait of Hormuz and the extortion attempts of the Iranian terror regime.”

On Feb. 28, Israel and the United States launched a preemptive attack on Iran to degrade its nuclear and ballistic missiles capabilities, while potentially creating the conditions for regime change.

The Islamic Republic is seeking to recover economically and militarily through the memorandum of understanding with the U.S., while avoiding any relinquishment of long-term strategic assets.
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