For years, Israeli military and intelligence officials warned that the day would come. The threat of a nuclear-armed Iran had dominated Israeli strategic thinking for more than two decades. Diplomatic efforts, covert operations, cyber campaigns, and targeted strikes had all been used to slow what Israel considered an existential danger. But on February 28, 2026, Israel and the United States moved beyond containment entirely. The result is the most significant Israeli military campaign since the country’s founding — a sustained, large-scale offensive against Iran that has now entered its fourth week, fundamentally altered the landscape of the Middle East, and left thousands of people dead across the region.
This is what Israel has done, why it did it, and what the consequences have been.
The groundwork for the February 28 operation had been laid months in advance. Following the twelve-day war of June 2025, in which Israeli and American strikes significantly degraded Iran’s nuclear program, Israeli intelligence continued to monitor Iranian efforts to rebuild missile capabilities and expand enriched uranium stockpiles. By late 2025, analysts within Israeli military intelligence concluded that Iran was moving toward a capability that would be very difficult to neutralize if left unchecked. The January 2026 popular uprising inside Iran, which was violently suppressed by Iranian security forces, provided an additional strategic opening — a moment when the Iranian government was internally weakened and its regional standing was at a low point.
Israeli Strike Hits Iranian State TV Broadcaster
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly contacted President Trump on February 23, informing him of the upcoming location of a high-level meeting of Iranian leadership, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The intelligence was specific and actionable. Within days, the decision to proceed with a coordinated strike had been made at the highest levels of both governments.
On the night of February 28, Israel launched what military observers described as one of the most complex coordinated air operations in modern military history. Working alongside American forces conducting their own simultaneous strikes under the operation name Epic Fury, the Israeli Air Force struck dozens of targets across Iran in the opening hours, focusing heavily on the northern regions of the country. Israeli aircraft targeted missile storage facilities, air defense networks, command and control infrastructure, and senior leadership compounds.
The most consequential strike of the opening wave was the one that killed Ali Khamenei. Israeli forces struck what they described as a central leadership compound in the heart of Tehran. Iranian state media confirmed Khamenei’s death on March 1. He had led Iran since 1989, succeeding Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. His assassination sent shockwaves through Iran, through the region, and through every government that had been following the deteriorating situation with alarm. Iranian officials who survived the opening strikes expressed immediate fear, according to later reporting, that Israel intended to continue eliminating Iranian leaders until the Islamic Republic itself was dismantled.
In the days that followed, Israel continued intensive strike operations across Iran, targeting what it described as the infrastructure of the Iranian military threat. Oil storage depots in and around Tehran were struck, including the Aghdasieh warehouse in the northeast, the Tehran refinery in the south, and the Shahran depot in the west. Fires burned for days across the capital, sending toxic smoke across residential neighborhoods. Iran’s Deputy Health Minister warned that the burning of oil facilities would cause respiratory damage, soil contamination, and acid rain — effects he argued had nothing to do with military infrastructure. Israel stated that the fuel storage sites were being used to power military operations.
Israel’s strikes extended well beyond Tehran. Military records and independent conflict monitoring by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project documented nearly 2,300 distinct strike events across at least 29 of Iran’s 31 provinces. The breadth of the campaign was unprecedented. Among the most consequential strikes were those targeting Iran’s South Pars gasfield, one of the country’s most important energy assets, and facilities on Kharg Island, a vital terminal for Iranian oil exports. The strikes on energy infrastructure triggered a sharp escalation in global oil and gas prices and prompted fierce Iranian retaliation against energy facilities in neighboring Gulf states.
