IDF chief: Iran reached 'point of no return' – Israel prepared to eliminate existential threat in 'prolonged campaign'

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir announced on Friday that the Iranian regime had been “building for years a clear plan to destroy the State of Israel” and that “the plan [had] reached the point of no return – where the capabilities reached operational capability.” For decades, the regime has chanted “Death to Israel” and “Death to America,” repeatedly calling for Israel’s destruction.

Zamir affirmed that the Israel Defense Forces would address and proactively confront the existential threat to the Jewish state’s future.

“The IDF will not stand by and watch as threats develop,” he vowed. “As part of an emerging doctrine, we will act proactively and in advance to prevent an existential threat and to face any challenge.”

While much of the focus has been on the nuclear threat, Zamir repeated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent public warning that Tehran’s vast missile arsenal had also developed into a strategic threat to Israel’s existence.

“Iran possessed around 2,500 surface-to-surface missiles, with a high production rate, such that within approximately two years, they were expected to possess around 8,000 missiles,” Zamir assessed.

He said that Israel was compelled to respond to the growing existential Iranian threat.

“Had we delayed, there was a risk of losing these conditions and entering the campaign in the future from a position of clear disadvantage,” Zamir stated. “We understood that history would not forgive us if we failed to act now to defend the existence of the Jewish people in the State of Israel.”

The ayatollah regime has so far fired over 500 ballistic missiles, primarily at civilian population centers in Israel.

Israel’s advanced aerial defense systems have successfully intercepted approximately 90% of the incoming Iranian missiles. However, those that penetrated the defenses have killed 24 Israeli civilians and injured hundreds more.

On Thursday, an Iranian missile struck Soroka Hospital in the southern city of Beersheva. Miraculously nobody was killed in the attack as a senior Israeli health official had pre-emptively ordered the evacuation of patients from the ward.

The attack underscored the ongoing threat to Israeli civilians, even as the military continues to carry out its campaign deep inside Iranian territory.

The IDF chief assessed that Israel has already inflicted severe damage to Iran’s military and nuclear capabilities.

“We eliminated the enemy’s senior command, inflicted deep damage to components of the nuclear program, opened an aerial corridor to Tehran, identified and destroyed about half of the missile launchers, some just minutes before launch, and surprised the enemy despite its heightened state of alert,” Zamir explained.

While praising the "Operation Rising Lion" military offensive against Iran, the Israeli military chief urged citizens to prepare for a potential “prolonged campaign” against the Iranian regime.

“Alongside the offensive operations, the defense of the home front continues. This is a different challenge from what we have known until now. The enemy, in its weakness, deliberately targets civilians, as we have experienced once again in the recent barrage. Our enemies do not understand that the Israeli home front is the source of the IDF’s strength, not its weakness,” Zamir stated.

The IDF assured Israelis it is well prepared for all scenarios in the ongoing war with Iran.

“We are preparing for a range of possible developments. We have embarked on the most complex campaign in our history. We launched this campaign in order to eliminate a threat of this magnitude, against such an enemy, which requires readiness for a prolonged campaign,” Zamir explained.

“The IDF is prepared for this. With each passing day, our freedom of action is expanding, and the enemy’s is shrinking,” Zamir assessed, likely referring to Israel’s air superiority over Iran and the regime’s dwindling supply of missiles and launchers.

“The campaign is not over. While we have achieved significant results, challenging days still lie ahead, and we must remain alert and united until the mission is complete,” he added.

The Israeli military estimated on Thursday that it had neutralized about 66% of Iran’s missile launchers.