Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday that his country was prepared to resume offensive operations against Iran and was waiting for authorisation from Washington to escalate dramatically. "The IDF is ready both defensively and offensively and the targets have been marked," Katz said in a video statement, adding that Israel sought a green light "first and foremost to complete the elimination of the Khamenei dynasty" and to destroy key energy, electricity, and economic infrastructure — language he framed as returning Iran "to the Stone Age."
The statement comes in the context of an ongoing conflict that began in earnest when US-Israeli airstrikes on 28 February killed Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. His son subsequently assumed leadership but has yet to appear in public, fuelling speculation about his condition. The war has since spread beyond Iran's borders, drawing in Lebanon and leaving several thousand people dead across the region. Global economic stability has also been affected, with tensions rising around the Strait of Hormuz — the narrow waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea through which a significant share of the world's oil passes.
The timing of Katz's remarks is significant. Just two days earlier, on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump announced an indefinite extension of a ceasefire between the United States and Iran that had come into force on 8 April, stating it was intended to create space for diplomatic talks with Tehran. No new round of negotiations has been confirmed, however, leaving the situation deeply uncertain. Katz's public call for a US green light appears to put pressure on Washington at a delicate moment in those efforts.
On a separate but related diplomatic track, Israeli and Lebanese envoys were scheduled to meet in Washington on Thursday for a second round of direct talks — the first such exchanges in three decades. Lebanon was drawn into the broader conflict on 2 March when Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said his country's ambassador would seek an extension of a fragile ten-day ceasefire that took effect last Friday and press for an end to Israeli demolitions of homes in occupied Lebanese villages. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, meanwhile, described Hezbollah as the sole obstacle to normalisation between the two countries.
Why this matters: Israel's open declaration that it is awaiting US approval before escalating against Iran underscores how closely intertwined American and Israeli decision-making has become in this conflict — and how much pressure the Trump administration faces to manage competing impulses: pursuing diplomacy with Tehran while holding back an Israeli government that appears eager to press its military advantage. The outcome of the Washington talks on Lebanon, and any signal from the US on Iran, could determine whether the region moves toward a broader ceasefire or a significantly more destructive phase of the war.