Israel hits new Iran targets after civilian warning ignored

The Jewish state is sending a clear message to Iran: attacks on civilians will come with a heavy price.

By World Israel News Staff

Israel struck new targets in Iran, including major energy facilities and an oil refinery, after the Islamic Republic launched deadly overnight airstrikes that killed at least 10 Israeli civilians.

Jerusalem warned Tehran that strategic infrastructure would be in the IDF’s crosshairs should Iran continue its barrages targeting population centers in Israel.

After Iran ignored that warning, launching direct missile strikes that killed civilians in the northern Arab city of Tamra and the Tel Aviv suburb of Bat Yam, the IDF expanded its target bank to energy assets.

According to a New York Times report, Israel struck the South Pars Gas Field, one of the world’s largest oil refineries and a crucial site for Iran’s energy supply.

“We have entered the second phase of the war, which is extremely dangerous and destructive,” Abdollah Babakhani, a Germany-based expert on Iran’s energy industry, told the Times.

Two additional oil depositories near Tehran were also struck by Israel in the early hours of Sunday morning, according to Hebrew-language media reports.

The IDF issued a Farsi-language warning to Iranian civilians, warning them to evacuate areas in the vicinity of “military weapons production sites.”

That evacuation notice likely indicates that additional strikes on Iranian military assets would occur in the coming hours.

Israel previously struck numerous sites affiliated with Iran’s nuclear program, though it has failed to completely destroy all of the facilities.

An Israeli military official, speaking anonymously to NBC News, said that “it will take much more than a few weeks” for Iran to repair damage to the Isfahan and Natanz nuclear centers.

The IDF had “concrete intelligence that production in Isfahan was for military purposes,” the official added.