Dear Friends of Israel,

At about 8 pm ET, Thursday evening, June 12th, which was 3 am Friday, June 13th, Israeli time, Israel initiated a preemptive attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. The name of the operation is "Operation Rising Lion.”

The Israeli strike is targeting nuclear and missile sites, other military installations, and IRGC senior officers. As of this writing, it appears likely that the entire Iranian General Staff, including the Chief of Staff, and senior nuclear scientists were eliminated. Israel has killed the Revolutionary Guard commander, the commander of the Hatem al-Anbiya organization, one of the largest and most important organizations in the Revolutionary Guards, and possibly, Ismail Qaani, head of the Quds Force.

Less than an hour after the attack started, over 100 missiles hit Tehran alone and there were reports of attacks on Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan, three of the primary nuclear sites There are also attacks on nuclear and military sites near the cities of Kermanshah, Arak and Kerman. 

It appears this Israeli strike caught all the Iranian commanders in bed, completely off guard. There was not a single warning signal activated in Iran! The Iranians were probably caught by surprise for several reasons:

1. There was an upcoming negotiation on the issue of Iran's nuclear program scheduled for this coming Sunday between the Iranians and the Americans. Apparently, the Iranians assumed there would be no attack when such an important meeting was about to take place.

2. All through the day on Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu maintained a regular schedule, including meeting with Argentine President Milei, who came to Israel to speak to Parliament and announce the moving of the Embassy of Argentina to Jerusalem. Nothing in Netanyahu's behavior indicated such an attack was about to happen.

3. Over the last number of weeks, President Trump made repeated public statements concerning his preference for diplomacy, and it was well known he had asked Israel not to attack while negotiations with Iran were still in progress. It is interesting to note that on April 12, Trump gave Iran 60 days to reach a deal. That 60 days is over. Israel's attack on Iran began on the 61st day. 

Perhaps, Iran did not count the days, or if they did, they didn't take President Trump seriously. At any rate, the combination of these circumstances seems to have caused the Iranian leadership to think that nothing was going to happen, at least not today.

As of this writing, there have already been a number of very important assassinations of key Iranian leaders that include:

- The Chief of Staff 
- The Commander of the Revolutionary Guards 
- The Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council
- A number of nuclear scientists, including the head of the SPND (Center for Security Research and Development)

There have also been reports of attacks on nuclear-related facilities in:

- Natanz, which at this point appears to be destroyed
- Hamdan
- Kharamabad
- Kermanshah

Missile bases in Tehran and Kermanshah have been attacked, as have various military bases. There is also a report of the downing of 8 Iranian fighter jets in air-to-air combat with Israeli fighter jets.

What the IDF and the Mossad have done to Iran in just a few hours in terms of the assassinations and attacks on nuclear facilities, air defense systems and missiles is comparable to what the IDF did to Hezbollah in Lebanon in 10 days. 

Why did Israel do this now??

According to Israeli officials, Iran has reached the point of being able to immediately produce 15 bombs. Therefore, Israel had no choice but to attack to prevent Iran from using those bombs because Iran has repeatedly declared its intent to destroy the Jewish State as soon as it had a bomb.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir stated: “We launched the strike because the time had come, we reached the point of no return. We cannot wait for another time to act; we have no choice. History, both distant and recent, has taught us that in the face of ambitions to destroy us, we must not bow our heads, and so we fight to preserve our existence. Freedom is granted to those who are willing to fight for it.”

According to the spokesperson for the IDF:

"The IDF, under the guidance of the political echelon, launched a precise and integrated preemptive strike based on high-quality intelligence, with the aim of damaging the Iranian nuclear program and in response to the Iranian regime's ongoing aggression against Israel. Dozens of Air Force aircraft recently completed the opening strike, which included attacking dozens of military targets, including nuclear targets in various areas of Iran."

Less than three hours after the beginning of the attack, a senior IDF official commented about what has happened so far: "An unprecedented achievement, a significant blow to the top of the Iranian military and the Revolutionary Guards. We are at war."

The spokesperson for the IDF also stated that Israel is prepared to continue to act as necessary. "The State of Israel has a duty to act to protect its citizens and will continue to do so wherever required, as it has done in the past."

Meanwhile, Israel's Home Front Command is prepared for many scenarios, defensively and offensively. All Israelis have been told to be in bomb shelters, in anticipation of retaliatory attacks from Iran, which have begun with the launching of ballistic missiles at Israel. Iran is expected to respond by firing 600 such missiles in the first wave of its response.

CAMERA's Partnership will continue to keep you updated as the situation is changing constantly!

In the meantime, please pray for wisdom for Israel's leaders and protection for every Israeli - those who are involved in the war effort and those who are right now taking refuge in bomb shelters throughout the country.

AM YISRAEL CHAI!
The people of Israel live!