It was the moment that Benjamin Netanyahu had awaited for decades: at 3am on Friday, the Israeli prime minister’s forces launched a massive attack on Iran, aiming to wipe out swathes of its nuclear weapons programme.

Israel said its goal was to “roll back” Tehran’s programme, which it considers an existential threat, and has signalled that more strikes will follow, which could destroy the nuclear project altogether.

But as the dust settles following Israel’s initial salvo of air strikes, the risk of this operation unleashing an all-out regional war – and one that could even drag in Britain – looks higher than ever.

On Friday night, Iran unleashed dozens of Iranian ballistic missiles towards Israel, the IDF said, with explosions heard in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and at least two civilians killed.