Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he expected the war against Iran was “not going to take years”, as the conflict widened with Israel attacking Iran-backed Hezbollah targets in Lebanon and Iran hitting Gulf states that host US military bases.

US President Donald Trump initially projected the war to last four ​to five weeks, but since sought to justify a broad, open-ended war on Iran.

Netanyahu rejected the idea of the conflict lasting years, like previous wars in the region.

“I said it could be quick ‌and decisive. It may take some time, but it’s not going to take years. It’s not an endless war,” Netanyahu said on Fox News’ “Hannity” programme on Monday.

As the war entered its fourth day on Tuesday, explosions shook buildings across Tel Aviv as air defences intercepted incoming Iranian missiles.

Early on Tuesday, two drones, apparently from Iran, struck the US embassy in Riyadh, causing minor damage and starting a fire, and at least eight more drones were intercepted before ​reaching the city, Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry said.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Tuesday that its naval forces had destroyed the main command building and headquarters of a US airbase in Bahrain in what ​it described as the 14th wave of “Operation Promise of the Truth 4”.

The IRGC said in a statement that it had launched a large-scale drone and missile attack on the base ⁠in the Sheikh Isa area early in the morning, with 20 drones and three missiles striking their intended targets.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ​on Monday warned that “the hardest hits are yet to come from the US military” in the offensive against Iran.

Asked how long he expected the United States to be engaged in Iran, Rubio told reporters that he did not know, and ​that he did not rule out the possibility that Trump might deploy US troops to fight a ground war in the Middle East.

“We believe the objectives we have set for this mission, the destruction of their ballistic missile capabilities, both launch capabilities and manufacturing, can be achieved without ground forces,” Rubio said.

“Right now, we are not postured for ground forces. But obviously the president has those options, and he is not going to rule out anything.”

The US military said it had struck more than 1,250 targets ​in Iran and destroyed 11 Iranian ships. Six US service personnel have been killed so far, all in Iran’s retaliatory attacks over the weekend on Kuwait.

Kuwait mistakenly shot down three American F-15E fighter jets during an Iranian attack, US Central Command said. All six ‌crew members ejected ⁠and were safely recovered.