It was supposed to be Zionism’s greatest military victory—the defeat of Iran. Instead, Israel’s “Operation Rising Lion” turned into “Operation Whimpering Lion,” as devastation was visited upon most of Israel by Iran.
Of course, the term “Rising Lion” was designed to play to the right audience—America’s “Christian” Zionists for whom “salvation” is guaranteed to those who serve Prime Minister Netanyahu. Or is it Nosferatu? Difficult to know.
The Scofield-crowd was meant to immediately flick to Numbers 23: 24 and read in a suitably awe-struck voice: “Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.”
Truly heady stuff. And why not, for people like Ted Cruz, anything Netanyahu decides to is “god”-ordained. What hope could the Iranians have against a Bible verse such as this? Final victory was at hand, since the “lion of Judah” was about to pounce.
To drive home the point, Netanyahu placed a handwritten version of the verse into a crack in Jerusalem’s Wailing Wall, shortly before the strikes began. It was all about strength, determination, and a victorious future for Israel, etc.
The operation involved a coordinated attack, combining swarms of small explosive drones and over 200 Israeli fighter aircraft, including many F-35 Adir jets carrying standoff munitions. The drones, reportedly pre-positioned inside Iran months earlier, struck air-defense radars and communications nodes, distracting Iranian defenses and saturating early-warning networks. Minutes later, the airstrikes hit more than 100 nuclear and military targets across Iran, including key nuclear facilities, chemical weapon sites, government buildings.
Israel also carried a massive decapitation operation, killing and senior military leaders, and scientists. And is usual with Israel, in order to kill one individual, his entire family and even neighbors are also killed, given that the entire apartment block is bombed. The brutality of this mass murder is still being assessed. So far, the death toll stands at 600, with 5,332 people injured, most severely, and so it cannot yet be known how many of these will also succumb to their injuries. Many of the dead are women and children, the youngest an infant of two months.
Scofielders want their “god” to be as brutal as possible, because that is somehow “biblical.”
For example, in order to kill Mohammad Reza Sedighi Saber, an Iranian nuclear scientist, the Israelis also killed 12 members of his family, including 6 children—which is on par with Israeli methodology.
All this bloodshed was supposed to make Israel the most feared and respected thing in the Middle East. It was supposed to regime-change Iran. It was supposed to turn Iran into another poodle, like UAE, Saudi Arabia, etc.
Despite the initial success of bombings and decapitation strikes, however, what ended up happening was that the “rising lion” met up with L. Frank Baum.
It was Iran’s turn, and it brought out its arsenal, which Israel had always assumed was all a myth.
It was time for Israel’s punishment—and most of the world cheered.
Iran used various medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs) such as the Emad and Ghadr, which are evolutions of the Shahab-3 design, capable of reaching Israel with warheads weighing around 500-750 kg. The Emad missile is noted for higher accuracy. The Kheibar Shekan, a newer solid-fuel missile with a range of about 1,400–1,500 km, has also been used. These missiles carry conventional explosive warheads and have been launched from western Iran to strike Israel.
Iran also fired at least one ballistic missile equipped with a cluster munition warhead targeting central Israel. This missile released about 20 submunitions at an altitude of approximately 7 kilometers, dispersing explosives over an area roughly 8-16 kilometers in diameter. Cluster munitions scatter multiple bomblets designed to cause widespread damage, often indiscriminately affecting civilian areas. This was the first reported use of cluster munitions by Iran in the current conflict.
There were also drones and cruise missiles, as well as hypersonic missiles (the Fattah-1), which can travel at speeds around five times the speed of sound and carry up to 200 kg of explosives.
Iran’s attacks reflected a diverse missile arsenal aimed at overwhelming Israeli air defenses and causing both military and civilian damage. The result was devastating for Israel.
The main locations targeted by Iranian missiles included:
Tel Aviv. Multiple missile strikes hit Tel Aviv, including areas near the Israeli Ministry of Defense headquarters (the Kirya), residential buildings, and research institutions such as the Weizmann Institute of Science. The attacks caused significant damage and injuries.
Ramat Gan. Adjacent to Tel Aviv, missiles struck several towers and residential complexes, causing serious damage and forcing evacuations. Nine structures were reported destroyed.
Petah Tikva: Missiles damaged both residential and commercial areas in this city neighboring Tel Aviv.
Bnei Brak. A religious school was destroyed by missile strikes.
Bat Yam: This city south of Tel Aviv suffered severe destruction and casualties, with nine fatalities and about 200 injuries reported.
Rishon LeZion: Several homes were demolished due to missile impacts.
Haifa: Iran targeted the Bazan petrochemical facility, Israel’s largest oil refinery, forcing a shutdown. Residential buildings in the Ne Sha’ neighborhood were also hit.
Ness Ziona: Iranian missiles were launched at this town near Tel Aviv.
Beersheba: A residential building was hit by an Iranian missile, killing four people and injuring 20 shortly before a ceasefire took effect.
Tamra: A predominantly Palestinian town in Israel where an Iranian missile killed four women from the same family. The town lacks sufficient bomb shelters, because Jews get preferential treatment for sheltering spaces.
Other locations: Strikes were also reported in Safed, Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Beit She’an (Bisan), with significant damage to infrastructure such as power stations and military command centers.
These attacks have resulted in civilian casualties, injuries, and considerable damage to residential, commercial, and strategic facilities across Israel. Never has this happened before.
Needless to say, the property damage inside Israel after the 12-day war with Iran is unprecedented in scale and cost. Israeli property owners have filed nearly 40,000 claims for damages, with estimates that the total number will exceed 45,000. The damage includes structural destruction of buildings, damage to vehicles, equipment, and contents of homes. Approximately 15,000 Israelis were forced to evacuate their homes due to the damage, many relocating to hotels or staying with relatives.
The initial financial cost of the property damage alone was estimated at around 5 billion shekels (approximately $1.47 billion), which is about double the damage costs from the October 7 attacks and subsequent fighting. This figure does not yet include all claims or damage assessments, such as those from Be’er Sheva, and the final cost is expected to rise further. This figure was then revised to $20 billion.
In addition to direct property damage, Israel faces significant indirect costs including government support programs for affected workers and businesses, estimated at 2 to 3 billion shekels, and ongoing compensation payments to victims of the war. The total direct losses from the war, including military spending and reconstruction, are estimated at $12 billion, with potential total costs rising to $20 billion when indirect damages and civilian compensation are fully accounted for.
The destruction caused by Iranian missile strikes was severe, with some missiles carrying massive warheads that reduced entire apartment buildings to rubble and caused widespread blast damage. The scale of widespread destruction and the number of claims represent challenges of a magnitude never before faced in Israel’s history.
Israel could not afford to keep getting pounded like this; it would soon be on its last legs. And therefore, Trump and Netanyahu quickly concocted a unilateral ceasefire.
In effect, Operation Rising Lion is a severe defeat for Israel, despite all the bravura—because what Iranian firepower blew up is the idea that militarily Israel is invincible.
And when Iran bombed the American military base in Al-Udeid, Qatar, it demonstrated that all American assets in the Middle East are vulnerable—and impossible to defend against drone warfare, which marks the conflicts of the future. Future wars will not be about airplanes, warships and boots on the ground—but rather drone missile warfare, in which Iran has shown itself to be the master.
Perhaps, it is now time to consider the Middle East as the demesne of Iran?
