Israel’s Military Prepares for Continued Fighting With Iran: “For Us, This Is Day 42 of Operation ‘Roaring Lion’”

A senior IDF officer addressed the situation today (Monday) and said, “From our perspective, we are continuing Operation Roaring Lion — now in its 42nd day, after a two-month pause. We have an opportunity to build on the achievements.”

The IDF said that all strikes carried out so far on Iranian territory have been Israeli strikes בלבד. At the same time, in the air defense array, Israel is operating in cooperation with the United States, which helped intercept some of the missiles launched at Israel over the past day.

Cooperation between the two countries is also evident at the operational level. Similar to Operation “Roaring Lion,” American representatives from the U.S. military are currently stationed in the operations bunker at the Kirya, while Israeli representatives are working at U.S. Air Force headquarters in Florida as part of the coordination between the sides.

The IDF also addressed what it described as Iranian attempts to create new deterrence rules following the strikes in Lebanon: “We do not operate by equations. The Iranians are trying to constrain us with equations — but we will not let them create a new reality in the Middle East.”

The IDF further clarified that any operational opportunity to act against Hezbollah targets in the Dahiya district of Beirut will be carried out. According to the military, in the strike carried out yesterday in the Dahiya quarter — which preceded the current round of escalation with Iran — two Hezbollah terrorists in mid-level command positions were eliminated. The IDF said the target that was struck was a headquarters involved in explosive drone operations.

Officials in the defense establishment say that after the strike in Dahiya, Israel prepared for the possibility of an Iranian response. “We assessed that Iran would act, but we were not certain about the timing of the action,” the IDF said.

According to IDF figures, between 22 and 24 ballistic missiles have been launched from Iran toward Israel since yesterday evening. In addition, two missiles were launched from Yemen, one of which was intercepted and the other fell on its way to Israel.