‘US helping a lot’: Israel PM Netanyahu says Iranian regime change ‘not a goal’ but could be a…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the change or fall of the Iranian regime was not a goal but could be a result.

"The matter of changing the regime or the fall of this regime is first and foremost a matter for the Iranian people. There is no substitute for this. And that's why I didn't present it as a goal. It could be a result, but it's not a stated or formal goal that we have," Netanyahu told Israeli public broadcaster Kan. 

Israel has destroyed more than half of Iran's missile launchers, said PM Netanyahu on Thursday. 

The Israeli PM has posted a video of himself outside Beersheba’s Soroka Medical Center, which suffered damage from an Iranian missile attack today.

In it, he claims the Israeli military “accurately hit nuclear targets and missile targets, and they (Iran) hit a hospital, where people can’t even get up and run away”.

“That’s the whole difference in a democracy that acts according to the law to save itself from these murderers and against these murderers who want to destroy each and every one of us”.

Israel has regularly attacked hospitals in its war on Gaza, with officials in the besieged enclave stating that Israel has bombed and burned at least 36 hospitals across the Gaza Strip since the war began in October 2023.

‘US Helping A Lot’

During a visit to the Soroka Medical Centre in the city of Beer Sheva, which sustained damage from Iranian strikes, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that the United States is “already helping a lot” in Israel’s ongoing conflict with Iran.

“They’re participating in the protection of the skies over Israel and its cities,” Netanyahu told CNN while speaking to a group of reporters. “I think it’s a remarkable cooperation.”

The Prime Minister also addressed questions regarding whether Israel is aiming for the downfall of the Iranian regime. “That may be the result,” he said. “But it’s up to the Iranian people to rise for their freedom. Freedom is never cheap.”

“We may create conditions that may help them do it,” Netanyahu added.

Israel Claims Iran Fired Cluster Munitions

The Israelis are also saying they believe that, for the first time, the Iranians fired cluster munitions – and they are much harder to intercept.

The missile explodes high up in the atmosphere, and then it sends these smaller missiles over an eight-kilometre (five-mile) radius, raining on the ground, and so it’s much harder for the air defence systems to intercept them.

A cluster munition is a type of explosive weapon that disperses numerous smaller submunitions or "bomblets" over a wide area, designed to destroy personnel, vehicles, or infrastructure, but often posing long-term risks to civilians due to unexploded ordnance.

The Israelis are worried about some of them not exploding and therefore leaving live munitions trailing on the ground.

Donald Trump posts cryptic Iran message

The US president has pushed back on a Wall Street Journal report claiming he privately approved attack plans for Iran but delayed a final go-ahead in hopes Iran would abandon its nuclear programme.

Writing on his Truth Social social media platform, Donald Trump said, “The Wall Street Journal has No Idea what my thoughts are concerning Iran!”

As of yesterday, Trump said he was still unsure about authorising a strike.

“We’ll see what happens. I’ve been asked about it by everybody, but I haven’t made a decision,” he told reporters.