Netanyahu Says Israeli Attacks On Iran To Continue As Trump Mulls Ceasefire

Last Updated:March 24, 2026, 01:00 IST

Netanyahu said he spoke to US President Donald Trump, who told them that he believes "there is an opportunity to leverage the tremendous achievements" to end the war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he spoke to US President Donald Trump on Monday, who told them that he believes “there is an opportunity to leverage the tremendous achievements we have reached alongside the US military to realise the goals of the war."

“At the same time, we are continuing to strike in both Iran and Lebanon. We are smashing the missile program and the nuclear program, and we continue to deal severe blows to Hezbollah," he said in his first remarks since Trump announced that the US and Iran held “productive talks" on ending the war.

“Just a few days ago, we eliminated two more nuclear scientists – and we are still active. We will safeguard our vital interests under all circumstances," Netanyahu said on Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah.

Earlier today, Trump said the United States has held talks with Iran and that the two sides had “major points of agreement." He said his special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who had been negotiating with Iran before the war, had had discussions with a top “respected" Iranian official into the evening on Sunday.

Trump has also extended the deadline for the attacks he threatened against Iranian power plants if the Strait of Hormuz was not opened to five days. “All I’m saying is, we are ⁠in the throes of a real possibility of making a deal," he told reporters before departing Florida for Memphis.

However, Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who was reportedly leading negotiations on behalf of Tehran, irmly rejected Trump’s claim that the United States and Iran were engaged in “productive talks" to end the Middle East conflict and accused the US of manipulating markets to lower soaring oil prices.

“No negotiations have been held with the US, and fakenews is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the US and Israel are trapped," Ghalibaf wrote on X. He added that the Iranian people demand “complete and remorseful punishment of the aggressors" and that all officials remain firmly behind their “supreme leader and people until this goal is achieved".

Trump said he had spoken with Israel, which he said would be “very happy with what we have". Meanwhile, Axios reported that Egypt, Turkey and Pakistan were trying to convene a US-Iran meeting in Islamabad this week, including Witkoff, Kushner and Vice President JD Vance.

More than 2,000 people have been killed in the war the US and Israel launched on February 28, which has upended markets, driven up fuel costs, accelerated global inflation fears and convulsed the Western defence alliance.

Trump has also said he has no plans to send ground forces into Iran, but has not ruled it out. Israel has suggested its ground forces could take part in the war as it launched new attacks on Tehran on Monday.

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