WhatsappAfter rockets were fired on the Haifa area, the IDF spokesperson said, “We are going on the offensive against Hezbollah.”
The Hezbollah terror organization’s decision to fire rockets at the Haifa area overnight Monday means the Iranian proxy in Lebanon “just entered a fight it cannot win,” Israel Defense Forces International Spokesperson, Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, warned on Monday during a call with journalists.
He spoke after Hezbollah fired rockets from south of the Litani River in southern Lebanon, “directly targeting civilians in northern Israel, reaching as far as the Haifa area, despite previous ceasefire understandings that required the terrorist army to withdraw from that zone [southern Lebanon]. Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel,” said Shoshani.
The military had anticipated the scenario of “Hezbollah jumping in to defend its sponsor,” he stated, adding, “The goal of this operation is clear—to eliminate the existential threat posed by the radical Iranian regime and its proxies.”
He noted that over the past few months, Iran provided nearly a billion dollars to its proxies, with most of the money going to Hezbollah.
“They [Hezbollah] chose Iranian money over stability,” Shoshani said, adding, “We are going on the offensive against Hezbollah.” The military launched broad strikes against targets in Lebanon, including against command-and-control centers, launch sites, “and the last of Hezbollah’s veteran commanders in Beirut and southern Lebanon.”
The IDF struck and killed the head of Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters, Hussein Makled, on Monday.
Turning to Iran, Shoshani declassified new intelligence regarding the direct targeting of the Israeli home front by the Iranian regime, following missile strikes that killed nine people and injured dozens in Bet Shemesh near Jerusalem on Sunday.
“Iran is systematically targeting Israeli civilians as part of their war strategy,” Shoshani stated.
Despite the ongoing barrages, he noted that the volume of Iranian missile fire was lower than the previous night due to the relentless allied Israeli-American strikes on Iranian infrastructure, including a massive wave targeting underground bunkers in Tehran.
“They want to launch more. They launch whatever they can and we’ve been able to degrade their capabilities heavily,” Shoshani concluded.
Also on Monday, the Israel Air Force said it eliminated Iranian live fire arrays and ballistic missile launchers. It added that since the start of the war on Saturday, the IAF dismantled some 600 enemy infrastructure sites in Iran, and used 2,500 munitions to do so. Targets include over 200 Iranian aerial defense systems and more than 150 surface-to-surface ballistic missiles, as well as 200 missile launchers.
The IDF has called up some 110,000 reservists so far. Before the conflict, the IDF’s Operations Directorate prepared for the combat over a period of several months, together with the United States Military.
IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin provided further details regarding the immense scale of the multi-front conflict and the rapid deployment to the northern border. Defrin confirmed that the military launched a widespread attack against Hezbollah terror targets across Lebanon, including Beirut, immediately following the unprovoked rocket fire toward Haifa.
“Hezbollah is the one who opened fire; it chose hostile action,” Defrin stated. “It will pay a heavy price for that,” he warned.
The military issued evacuation warnings to over 50 villages in south Lebanon before launching the strikes against terrorist infrastructure there. “With the launch of Operation Roaring Lion, we significantly reinforced the defense and attack forces on the northern border, and we prepared for the possibility that Hezbollah would open fire,” Defrin noted.
“Hezbollah once again chooses to sacrifice the state of Lebanon,” Defrin explained.
Regarding the operations in Iran, Defrin detailed the immense firepower being utilized to destroy the regime’s deepest assets alongside the U.S. military.
“Scores of IAF warplanes dropped over 100 munitions on several underground headquarters of the regime,” Defrin said, describing the opening stages of the attack on Saturday.
Meir Ben-Shabbat, head of the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy and former Israeli national security adviser, told JNS on Monday, “The overall balance of the war so far tilts clearly and in all dimensions against Iran, but still leaves in its hands strategic military capabilities and does not guarantee the fall of the regime.”
“In this campaign Iran lost the little respect that it retained after the 12 Days War [in June 2025], suffered a surprise attack even though it was on alert for war, lost its leader and a large part of its political and security leadership, spoiled its relations with countries of the region, lost the active support of the proxy organizations and it continues to lose more and more strategic, military, infrastructural and regime assets, while now facing a clear challenge, from home and from outside, against the continued existence of the regime,” Ben-Shabbat observed.
“Israel showed once again its strength—a combination of intelligence, airpower and Israeli-American military and diplomatic coordination. This proved its capability of being the spearhead of the United States in the entire region. Israel has broadcast a message of determination and willingness to go all the way,” Ben-Shabbat added.
“However, this balance reflects currently only the halfway mark and not its end and therefore we must guard against smugness and euphoria,” he cautioned.
“It is necessary to fully utilize this opportunity until the end and not to be tempted by calls for a ceasefire or to idle diplomatic talks.” The former national security advisor concluded.
Also on Monday, the IDF said in a statement that it successfully eliminated the senior members of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence, who had overseen the most advanced capabilities in Iran and reported directly to the slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The strikes precisely targeted Sayed Yahya Hamidi, the deputy minister of Intelligence for Israel Affairs, and Jalal Pour Hossein, the head of the Espionage Division at the Ministry of Intelligence, alongside other senior terrorists.
“During the war, IDF soldiers operating in the Gaza Strip found several documents which revealed repeated attempts to establish a joint intelligence operations ring comprising the Hezbollah and Hamas terrorist organizations and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Lebanon (IRGC), led by personnel from the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence,” the statement noted.
“The Iranian Ministry of Intelligence also serves as the central instrument of the Iranian terror regime for monitoring the activities of Iranian citizens,” the statement added. “Members of the ministry provided intelligence that enabled the violent suppression of protests over the years. In addition to eliminating its senior members, the IAF struck the ministry’s headquarters in Tehran a short while ago.”
A military official added, “The Intelligence Ministry has served as the intelligence apparatus of the Iranian terror regime since 1983, following the merger of the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic and additional intelligence bodies of the IRGC.”
He added that the ministry “is central to the regime’s repression of the Iranian people and is responsible for internal surveillance within Iran.
“The ministry is also directly responsible for orchestrating numerous terror attacks against Israeli and Jewish civilians around the world,” the military official stated.
The IDF released further operational updates detailing the widespread coordination between its various branches to secure the nation’s borders and skies against the drone threat.
“Since the beginning of ‘Operation Roaring Lion,’ the IAF and the Israel Navy have been operating together to intercept dozens of UAVs launched toward the State of Israel,” the IDF stated, adding that the drones were launched from Iran towards southern and northern Israel.
“The IAF, with the guidance of IDF Intelligence, has begun an additional broad strike on Iranian terror regime targets in the heart of Tehran,” the IDF confirmed.
Meanwhile, the Defense Ministry announced the launch of a critical aerial and maritime supply line to deliver munitions and military equipment to the IDF’s war effort.
“Over the past 24 hours, the first cargo aircraft landed in Israel carrying various munitions and military equipment,” the ministry said.
Defense Minister Israel Katz and Defense Ministry Director General Maj. Gen. (res.) Amir Baram “have prioritized bolstering Israel’s strategic endurance and ensuring uninterrupted operational readiness amid preparations for potential escalation across additional fronts,” said the ministry.
