Israel has escalated its military campaign against Iran by shifting focus to deep underground ballistic missile installations, marking a significant intensification in its air operations. This development signals the beginning of a second phase in the ongoing conflict, where Israeli fighter jets are now tasked with striking missile bunkers buried beneath the surface, informed sources familiar with the military strategy. This escalation follows nearly a week of joint Israeli and U.S. airstrikes that initially targeted Iran’s leadership and key military assets.
The air campaign, which commenced with a series of precision strikes, has already triggered a wider regional confrontation. Iranian retaliatory attacks have been launched against Israeli targets, as well as locations in the Gulf and Iraq, while Israel has responded with counterstrikes inside Lebanon. The Israeli military has reported successfully destroying hundreds of above-ground missile launchers that posed a direct threat to Israeli cities, significantly degrading Iran’s immediate aerial strike capabilities.
Moving into this next phase, the focus will be on subterranean facilities that house ballistic missiles and related military equipment. These underground sites are believed to be critical to Iran’s ability to conduct long-range missile attacks. The sources, who requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the operations, emphasized that Israel aims to completely neutralize Iran’s capacity to launch aerial assaults by the conclusion of the conflict. This strategy complements the broader objective of dismantling the Islamic Republic’s leadership structure, which has been a primary target since the onset of hostilities.
While the Israeli military has not publicly confirmed the details of these new targets, it did release a statement highlighting an overnight airstrike on an underground infrastructure used by Iran to store ballistic missiles and other armaments intended for use against aircraft. This marks the first official acknowledgment of attacks on subterranean missile storage sites since the joint U.S.-Israeli offensive began. Analysts estimate Iran’s missile arsenal ranges from approximately 2,500 units, as claimed by Israel, to as many as 6,000 other independent assessments. The remaining missile stockpile will likely play a crucial role in determining the conflict’s trajectory.
Despite the ongoing airstrikes, Tehran continues to launch missile attacks targeting Israel and other regional locations. Experts from the International Institute for Strategic Studies in the UK have noted that Iran still retains some advanced land-attack cruise missiles, which are precision-guided and capable of flying at low altitudes to avoid radar detection. This capability poses a persistent threat and complicates efforts to fully suppress Iran’s missile forces.
Since the conflict’s outbreak, Israeli Air Force fighter jets have maintained a near-continuous operational tempo, intensifying their sorties particularly after Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group in Lebanon, fired rockets into Israel. This provoked a series of heavy Israeli airstrikes extending as far north as Beirut. In some instances, Israeli warplanes have conducted dual strikes within a single mission—targeting sites in Tehran or western Iran on the inbound leg, and then hitting Hezbollah positions in Lebanon on the return flight. This demonstrates the broad geographic scope and complexity of the current military operations.
Officials from both Israel and the United States have observed a decline in ballistic missile and drone launches from Iran since the initial days of the conflict. This reduction is attributed partly to the effectiveness of airstrikes against Iranian launch facilities and associated military infrastructure. However, analysts caution that Tehran may also be deliberately conserving its missile inventory in anticipation of a prolonged war of attrition, rather than a swift resolution.
Former Israeli deputy national security adviser Eran Lerman has expressed that the initial hope was for Iran’s ruling regime to begin collapsing rapidly under the pressure of the strikes. However, since this has not yet occurred, he stressed the necessity for continued and intensified degradation of Iran’s military capabilities. The ongoing campaign aims to systematically weaken Iran’s strategic assets to prevent further aggression and to bring the conflict closer to a decisive conclusion.
