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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is “committed to completing the elimination of the Iranian regime,” adding that he’s discussed it with President Trump many times, including on Sunday.

Getting into it: Netanyahu was speaking Tuesday at a new university in Kiryat Shmona near the Lebanon border, calling Iran’s government “the head of this poisonous octopus” and saying that once it falls, Hezbollah will too, followed by peace with Lebanon. He warned that if the regime is left standing, “even if it is battered, wounded and beaten,” it will try to build nuclear bombs and put its proxy militias back together. He added, “Finishing the job means bringing down the terrorist regime in Iran. It is the head of this poisonous octopus. You cut it off, and it will fall,” Netanyahu said. “We must complete the elimination of the Iranian regime, that is the primary objective.”

Days earlier, while laying out his first update to Israel’s national security doctrine in 10 years, Netanyahu said Israel would strike Iran first, with or without Washington, saying “the objectives I set do not depend on American approval,” and claimed “90% of the job is done.” He has also told Israeli media he isn’t looking to hit Iran ahead of the Oct. 27 election, while Trump has ruled out a US strike until after the Nov. 3 midterms, though sources told the Jerusalem Post a strike was “very close” to getting the green light at least once in recent weeks.

Notably, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dropped into Israel unannounced yesterday, meeting Netanyahu at an air base to discuss “the threats in the region,” according to Netanyahu’s office.

This all comes as Iranian officials told Reuters they expect US strikes to pick back up eventually, and diplomatic sources say Tehran has told Hezbollah to prepare, warning “an American attack is a matter of time.” Hezbollah has reportedly called in its full-time fighters and is shifting to a decentralized command structure.

This has led Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz to warn that if Hezbollah joins an Iranian attack, Israel will take more ground in southern Lebanon as a “permanent” security zone.