Israel spent years preparing for the operation against Iran’s nuclear and missile programs that was launched early Friday morning, a security official told The Times of Israel, including building a drone base inside Iran and smuggling precision weapons systems and commandos into the country.
The operation — dubbed “Rising Lion” — saw more than 200 Israeli Air Force aircraft participate in the opening strikes, as fighter jets dropped over 330 munitions on some 100 targets, the IDF said. Israel billed the strike as “preemptive” and “precise,” and said it had no choice but to damage the nuclear program of the Islamic Republic, which vows to destroy the Jewish state.
The effort hinged on tight joint planning between the Israel Defense Forces and the Mossad intelligence agency.
According to the official, Mossad agents set up a drone base on Iranian soil near Tehran. The drones were activated overnight, striking surface-to-surface missile launchers aimed at Israel.
In addition, vehicles carrying weapons systems were smuggled into Iran.
These systems took out Iran’s air defenses and gave Israeli planes air supremacy and freedom of action over Iran.
The third covert effort was Mossad commandos deploying precision missiles near anti-aircraft sites in central Iran.
The operations relied on “groundbreaking thinking, bold planning and surgical operation of advanced technologies, special forces and agents operating in the heart of Iran while evading the eyes of local intelligence,” the official said.
The Mossad later revealed rare footage showing its actions in Iran.
The United States knew about the planned operation for at least a week, according to a different Israeli official. Israel and the US are “continuously involved,” the official said.
The Americans are working to rebuild the regional coalition that confronted the previous Iranian attacks on Israel in April 2024 and October 2024. Even so, in the event of an Iranian missile barrage, Israel expects some missiles to get through, said the official.
Iran on Friday morning launched more than 100 drones at Israel, prompting the Air Force to begin shooting them down before they reached Israel’s borders. At about 10:50 a.m. — around the time that the drones were expected to reach Israel — the military’s Home Front Command said civilians no longer needed to remain close to bomb shelters.
The official also said that Aryeh Deri, leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, was informed that the strike was going to happen, and that it was not the time to dissolve the government, as seemed likely amid a coalition crisis over drafting ultra-Orthodox men to the military. Opposition leaders, however, were not updated ahead of time.
The chief of the Military Intelligence Directorate, Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder told soldiers at a command center that Israel is entering “a campaign that is nothing less than existential, against an enemy that seeks to destroy us.”
“You’ve heard this yourselves more than once: they are working to develop nuclear capabilities, rapidly advancing in that development, and building up conventional weaponry in very, very large quantities,” he told troops. “This is what we aim to degrade, to disrupt, and to remove that threat.”
“The Intelligence Directorate has worked extremely hard, both to provide early warning about the nuclear progress and the quantities of missiles, and the directorate is ready for this mission,” he continued.
Binder said the directorate is “at a very high level of alert,” adding that it is entering the campaign against Iran with a “very strong starting position.”
Defense Minister Israel Katz, meanwhile, warned that Israel would “eliminate” its foes.
“The precise targeting of senior commanders of the Revolutionary Guards, the Iranian military, and nuclear scientists — all of whom were involved in advancing the plan to destroy Israel — sends a strong and clear message: those who work toward Israel’s destruction will be eliminated,” he said in a statement.
Katz further warned that Iran “will pay an increasingly heavy price the longer it continues its aggressive actions” against Israel.
Katz later said that most of the leadership of the IRGC Air Force was eliminated in a strike today in Iran. The top brass of the IRGC Air Force had convened at an underground command center when the strike was carried out, according to a statement issued by Katz’s office.
The Islamic Republic, which vows to destroy Israel, says its nuclear program is for civilian purposes. However, it enriches uranium up to 60 percent — a level that has no civilian purpose and is close to the 90% threshold needed for a nuclear warhead. Iran has obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities.