This story, originally published at 1:39 pm ET on February 28, was updated at 8:10 pm ET on February 28.
After weeks of nervous anticipation of a conflict with Iran, Israelis woke up on Saturday shortly after 8 a.m. local time to warning alerts blaring on their cellphones.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were instructing them to know where their nearest shelter is and to avoid unnecessary travel.
Why do we write this?
Israeli civilians are used to hearing air raid sirens and running towards shelters. But after weeks of building anticipation about some new conflict with Iran, they woke up Saturday to a message from their leaders that the stakes in this war would be much higher.
Soon the news spread: Israel had just launched an attack on Iran. The country was in a state of national emergency.
For the Israelis, who are no strangers to the conflict and have been in a constant state of war preparation since Hamas attacked from Gaza on October 7, 2023, this was still new ground: an unprecedented joint attack launched with the United States against its archenemy, Iran.
Unlike the 12-day war that Israel launched against Iran last June and which the United States later joined, this highly coordinated war appears to have much broader objectives. Beyond stopping Iran’s nuclear program or ballistic missile production, its stated goal includes regime change in the Islamic Republic.
“Our joint operation will create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their destiny into their own hands,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israelis in a video address. The attack had been planned for months by the Israeli and US militaries, he said, vowing that this historic attack would “eliminate the existential threat posed by the terrorist regime in Iran.”
US President Donald Trump announced Saturday night that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been killed in the joint airstrike on Iran by Israel and the United States.
A message to the public from Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir implored civilians to follow security warnings from the Home Front Command and suggested they should be prepared for the long haul.
A woman was killed and several others injured when a ballistic missile hit Tel Aviv on Saturday night.
“We now face a significant, decisive and unprecedented operation… to secure our existence and our future here, in the land of our ancestors, for generations to come.”
The first air raid sirens sounded about five minutes after the initial warning.
Sleepy-eyed neighbors, still digesting the news – some holding small children, others reining in barking dogs – gathered in the bomb shelters in the basement of their apartment buildings.
Others quickly headed to large public shelters in underground parking lots or underground light rail stations. The Galilee campers found refuge in a concrete hut.
For most of Saturday, air raid sirens have been sounding across the country, forcing people to return to shelters, often just minutes after leaving.
The country had been on tenterhooks for weeks, waiting for an escalating war of words and warnings between the sides to end. A recent poll conducted for Israel’s Channel 12 said that 59% of Israelis favored joining a US attack on Iran if the Americans failed in their stated goal of reaching a nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic.
One of the main military objectives of the war, now called by Israel Operation Roaring Lion, is to destroy to the extent possible Iran’s sophisticated and extensive ballistic missile arsenal.
“In addition, Israel appears to have used the element of surprise to ‘decapitate’ senior Iranian political and military leaders,” Amos Yadlin, a retired major general and former deputy commander of the Israeli air force, posted on the social platform
In a briefing with reporters, Maj. Gen. Yadlin said the attack was both a tactical and operational surprise, guided by what he described as precise, real-time intelligence from Israel to target Iran’s political and military leaders.
He also said that Israel is likely to hit the leaders, since by law, the United States cannot attack foreign leaders. He described the joint attack on Iran as highly planned and choreographed.
“Israel knew there would be an Iranian retaliation, and Israel has a multi-tiered system to stop the Iranians from attacking,” he told reporters. “The first and most important thing is to attack the (missile) launchers in Iran, and this was done since the morning.”
According to an Israeli military source, Israel has mobilized some 70,000 reservists for air defense and border security. He said Iran has spent between $700 million and $900 million to bolster its regional allies, primarily Hezbollah in Lebanon.
In the days leading up to this attack on Iran, Israel carried out a wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets throughout Lebanon, including the south.
