“Strike your targets—you are making history,” Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir told Israeli pilots early Saturday morning ahead of their preemptive attack on the Islamic Republic.
“At dawn on Saturday, ‘Operation Roaring Lion’ commenced. You are authorized to execute. Strike your targets—you are making history. I have full confidence in you. Good luck to us all,” said Zamir, according to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit.
The IDF chief issued the attack order alongside Israeli Air Force chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar and additional commanders, the army said.
“I am sure that you will execute this well. There is a lot of experience in this room—strong capabilities that have proven themselves in the past. We are embarking on an operation that is taking place on a completely different scale—more complex and more complicated. I know that the preparation was short but intensive and incredibly thorough,” Zamir added.
The IAF targeted dozens of Iranian military sites as part of a broad, coordinated operation with the United States Armed Forces, the IDF said in an earlier statement.
“The Iranian regime has not abandoned its plan to destroy Israel,” the IDF said. “In recent months, despite the severe blow it sustained during ‘Operation Rising Lion’ [in June], the regime continued efforts to advance, fortify and conceal its nuclear program, while rehabilitating its missile production processes.”
The IDF said that in light of a multi-front situational assessment, it has begun a large-scale reinforcement of ground troops, special forces and firepower across all regional commands to back up the strikes on Iran with broader operational readiness.
