Iran and Hezbollah intensified their attacks against Israel after Tehran appointed Mojtaba Khamenei to replace his slain father as Iran's supreme leader.
On Monday, reports said Iran launched seven missile barrages at Israel while Lebanon’s Hezbollah conducted seven waves of rocket, mortar, and drone attacks targeting Israeli forces at the border and inside Israel.
In Tel Aviv, analysts said the escalation came as a message from the new supreme leader that he was avenging his father's murder.
The attacks sent five million residents running to bomb shelters throughout Sunday evening and Monday afternoon, reported Israeli media.
Emergency responders and news outlets have repeatedly documented injuries sustained while civilians ran for cover, including the death of a 102-year-old man who fell on his way to a protected space in Ramat Gan and later died of his wounds.
Two workers at a construction site were killed and tens of accidents were reported due to the fall of rocket debris in two separate locations following several rocket barrages launched by Iran.
The Israeli army, which has maintained strict secrecy regarding the outcome of Iran and Hezbollah bombings against its sensitive military positions, affirms that along its US partners, is engaged in an intensive operation aimed at degrading Iranian missile capabilities and targeting Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon.
The army even boasted that its forces have launched more strikes than the US against Iran, despite being occupied in a second front against Hezbollah at the Lebanese borders.
More Israeli strikes
The Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) said that early in the war, US forces carried out over three times as many strikes in Iran, but since the shift to the "next phase," Israel has dramatically increased its attacks, potentially reflecting strategy, munitions limits and political calculations.
During the first five days of the war, US forces struck about 2,000 targets in Iran, compared with roughly 600 Israeli strikes.
Over the weekend, however, after both Israel and the United States announced a transition to the “next phase” of Operation Roaring Lion, the trend shifted. Since then, the Israeli army has carried out nearly three times as many strikes as the US military, hitting about 2,800 targets compared with roughly 1,000 US strikes.
Overall, according to INSS figures, the United States has attacked about 3,000 targets in Iran since the start of the operation. Israel has struck around 3,400 targets in Iran, in addition to about 600 more in Lebanon.
According to the Yedioth Ahronoth daily, the data suggest that after the transition to the new phase of the campaign, Israel sharply accelerated its strikes in Iran, while the US has largely maintained the operational tempo it set earlier in the war.
Behind the numbers may lie a broader story reflecting different approaches by Israel and the US to managing the conflict.
It said that one possible reason Washington has not significantly increased its strike rate may involve munitions supplies and interceptor inventories.
Also, the US has moved additional military assets toward the Middle East, some of which are still en route.
These include the aircraft carrier USS George Bush and its strike group, which includes three destroyers. In recent days, four US B-1 bombers have also arrived in Britain.
From Israel’s perspective, the shift in strike tempo as the campaign enters its next phase may reflect progress in the fighting. It may also indicate concern that Trump could halt the operation due to public opinion in the United States.
Israeli officials reportedly understood early in the war that it would be important to maximize operational gains quickly.
At the same time, Trump has said several times that the war could last a month or even longer, and there are signs the campaign is far from over.
Trump also said the final decision on when the war ends will ultimately rest with him, although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will have influence over the timing.
Meanwhile, reports said Trump and his administration have so far offered mixed messages and contradictory explanations on the joint US-Israeli military campaign against Iran.
According to polls, most Americans still ignore why they are at war that has immediately impacted the US economy and energy prices.
According to the right-wing Israel Hayom newspaper, Israelis estimate that despite the wave of large-scale Iranian attacks against Israel, Tehran has not altered its tactics, continuing to bet on the US to intervene and stop the war.
