How Israel launched the largest-ever attack on Iran

Israeli war leaders, gathered in the bowels of military headquarters in Tel Aviv, have just given the green light to the largest attack on Iran in Israel’s history – and its most politically dangerous. They called this operation “Days of Atonement.”

The attack was intended to punish Iran for its attack on Israel, but was intended to avoid the outbreak of a full-scale war between the two enemies that would involve U.S. forces and other countries in the region. The attack did not include oil and nuclear facilities that Iran had warned would trigger retaliation, and appeared to heed the caution advised by U.S. officials.

But the attack marked the beginning of a new, dangerous phase in the confrontation between Israel and Iran, which began directly striking each other earlier this year. According to an Israeli official, Iran became even more vulnerable to further air attacks, which resulted in Israel destroying several Russian-made S-300 batteries.

“The message is that we do not want escalation, but if Iran decides to escalate and attack Israel again, it will mean that we have increased our freedom of movement in Iranian skies,” the Israeli official said.

For weeks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has signaled that Israel will respond in the wake of Iran’s October 1 missile attack on Israeli territory. It took weeks of planning and delicate diplomacy to pull this off.

Iran “knew Israel was coming and yet it couldn’t prevent anything,” said Assaf Orion, a retired Israeli brigadier general.

The United States – sensing an opening after Israel killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar – is pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Israel and other Middle Eastern capitals this week in an effort to reach an agreement that has eluded negotiators for months. The calibrated nature of the attack appears to leave room for these talks to continue, with negotiators scheduled to meet on Sunday in the Qatari capital Doha.

But even as Israel cooperated with diplomatic channels that could end the war in Gaza and ease tensions with Tehran, Israeli officials were sorting out the details of a retaliatory strike.

According to an Israeli official, on Friday evening, as the sun set marking the beginning of Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest, the Israeli cabinet agreed in a telephone call led by Netanyahu to launch the attack that night.

Hours before the attack began, Israel alerted the United States and several capitals in the Arab world and Europe about the nature and scope of the attack, according to people familiar with the matter. Authorities in some of these countries then notified Iran.

The Israeli prime minister’s office later said the idea of ​​informing Iran of the nature or timing of the attack was “false and absurd.”

When they finally began, Israeli attacks spread in waves. The attack used Israel’s most modern air weapon, F-35 jet fighters, adept at evading radar, according to people familiar with the mission.

As the fighters took to the air, Israeli officials, aware that their American counterparts were frustrated that Israel had not warned last month that it would kill Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, also decided to actively inform their American counterparts about their attack.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called his American counterpart, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who assured him of America’s readiness to defend Israel against a harsh response from Iran and allied militant groups.

The first group of jet fighters destroyed air defense batteries in Syria and Iraq, clearing the flight path for the second and third flights to Iran.

Their exact route, which was not shared by Israel, appeared to avoid Jordanian airspace after the Arab nation said it would not be part of an attack on Iran. Most of the attacks were carried out from outside Iranian airspace, said Amir Aviv, a former senior Israeli military official often briefed by the defense establishment. Iran said Israeli planes attacked from Iraqi airspace, about 70 miles from its border.

At about 3:30 a.m. in Israel, the country’s military launched the second of at least three waves of attacks, according to people familiar with the matter.

Israeli strikes have targeted Iranian facilities producing missiles such as cruise and ballistic missiles, which have targeted Israel twice this year.

According to the U.N. Atomic Energy Agency, one of the Israeli hits occurred at the sprawling Parchin military facility, where Iran once worked on nuclear weapons capabilities. Four buildings were hit there, including three solid-fuel missile facilities, said Fabian Hinz, a research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies who studies Iran’s missile program.

Just before sunrise, the Israeli army announced that the attack and retaliation had ended. The planes returned after a four-hour attack without losses.

Shortly thereafter, Iranian officials began privately informing Arab countries that the attack had hit its target locations with high accuracy. The regime publicly stated that this led to “limited damage” and that Iran reserved the right to launch a response at a time of its choosing. Iran said four Iranian soldiers were killed in the attacks.

Israeli officials said they hoped the attack would end the exchange of fire with Iran and the Israeli military could now focus on its war goals, fighting Hamas in Gaza and Lebanese Hezbollah, Iran’s allies.

Orion, a retired brigadier general, said the attack was calibrated but did not represent an end to tensions with Iran. “This will allow both sides to complete negotiations until the US elections and then see where it leads,” he added.

Anat Peled, Summer Said, Aresu Eqbali and Laurence Norman contributed to this article.