JERUSALEM/CAIRO: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israeli air strikes had “hit hard” Iran’s defenses and missile production, but Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the damage was coming from Iran. Saturday’s attack shouldn’t be exaggerated.

As the intensity of the war increases in Gaza and Lebanon, there is a danger that the direct conflict between Israel and Iran will turn into a regional conflagration. But a day after the airstrikes, there was no sign of renewed escalation.

But intense fighting in Lebanon between Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah, which has intensified sharply in recent weeks, continued on Sunday with an Israeli airstrike that killed eight people on a settlement block in Sidon, medics said.

In his speech, Netanyahu said, “The air force attacked every part of Iran. We hit Iran’s defense capability and its ability to produce missiles targeting us hard.” Netanyahu described the attack as “precise and powerful” and said that it achieved all its goals.