TEL ‌AVIV: US ​Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told Israel to “keep ‌going ‌until ​the ‌end,” ⁠saying the ​US stood ⁠with Israel, in overnight talks ⁠with ‌Defense Minister Israel ‌Katz, ​Israel’s ‌defense ‌ministry said on Thursday.
Katz thanked Hegseth ‌for extensive US assistance ⁠in defending ⁠Israeli citizens against the Iranian missile threat, it said.

Israel later  launched a large wave of strikes on Tehran on Thursday, targeting what it said was infrastructure belonging to the Iranian authorities, after Iranian missiles sent millions of Israelis rushing into bomb shelters.

In ‌Washington late on Wednesday, Republican senators blocked a motion aimed at stopping the US ​air campaign against Iran and requiring that military action be authorized ‌by Congress. That rejection leaves President Donald Trump's power to direct the war largely unbound, as the conflict continues to widen across ‌the Middle East and beyond.