Press Briefing by IDF Spokesperson, BG Effie Defrin-March 15th, 2026

Good evening.

In recent days, there have been attempts by Iran and Hezbollah to increase the rate of fire toward Israel.

It is important to say - these attempts are a direct response to our achievements over the past two weeks and the growing pressure.

We are acting to disrupt these attempts and to protect you, the citizens. The Israeli Air Force is operating over the skies of Iran and Lebanon, suppressing launches and hunting down missile launchers.

At the same time, our air defense systems are intercepting launches, but the most important component of defense is your responsible behavior as citizens and your adherence to the instructions.

Now, I want to tell you what we have accomplished over the past two weeks since we launched Operation Roaring Lion.

Our objective is to strike all of the regime’s systems and capabilities.

We are doing this shoulder to shoulder with the United States military in order to remove an existential threat to the State of Israel.

So how are we doing this?

We began the operation with a surprise and lethal opening strike.

In less than a minute, we eliminated 40 of the regime’s senior leaders, headed by Ali Khamenei. We struck simultaneously at three different meetings: the leadership compound, a meeting of the leadership council and a meeting of the Iranian ministry.

In these strikes, we thwarted most of Iran’s security and intelligence leadership.

At the same time, we began targeting two of the regime’s central systems — the missile array and the defensive systems. We struck them from the beginning of the operation and throughout it, and we continue to strike them constantly.

The ballistic missile and missile launcher array is the primary threat to the Israeli home front. So far, we have struck more than 700 missile array targets in real time. We have succeeded in reducing the volume of launches. We have removed more than 70% of the ballistic missile launchers out of operational use. We continue to target missiles and missile launchers constantly.

All UAVs launched from Iran toward Israel so far have been intercepted by the Israeli Air Force.

At the same time, we struck the Iranian defensive systems. This system includes defensive systems, surface-to-air missiles, radars, and additional regime capabilities. The damage inflicted on it allows the Israeli Air Force operational freedom to strike with unprecedented intensity across Iran.

So far, we have struck 80% of the regime’s defensive systems.

After striking these systems, we moved to the next phase of the operation — deepening the degradation of the regime’s capabilities.

First, we struck the regime’s military industries. These are the factories and sites used to produce ballistic missiles, UAVs, and other weapons, weapons that we have also found in Lebanon, Gaza, and Syria.

Striking the entire production chain allows us to delay and disrupt the regime’s ability to rearm in the future. This is damage that will take them a long time to rebuild.

So far, we have struck more than 100 such production targets. At each site there are dozens of different components — all of them are dismantled.

In addition, we struck the regime’s command mechanisms — its headquarters and command centers. We eliminated many thousands of the regime’s commanders and soldiers while they were operating from these headquarters and bunkers.

We also struck the regime’s repression mechanisms. These include the Basij, the Internal Security Forces, and the notorious intelligence headquarters.

So far, we have struck more than 500 command and control targets. These strikes allow us to undermine the regime’s ability to manage its attacks.

The third component we struck is the Iranian nuclear project. After severely degrading it during Operation Rising Lion, we are now striking sites and infrastructure that are part of the regime’s efforts to fortify and conceal its nuclear program.

Throughout the operation, we have struck more than 2,000 targets across Iran using more than 10,000 different munitions.

In Lebanon, we continue to strike constantly. Today we struck the Radwan Force headquarters in the heart of Beirut. Ground troops are also continuing to eliminate terrorists and strike Hezbollah terror infrastructure.

Last night, troops from the 91st Division operating in Lebanon encountered terrorists, eliminated them, and dismantled weapons.

Hezbollah in Lebanon is part of the Quds Force and operates to defend the regime and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Alongside the defensive effort, we are reinforcing the offensive effort with additional brigades and divisions in order to remove the threat to the northern communities.

We have a structured and organized war plan.

We still have thousands of targets in Iran, and we generate additional targets every day. The regime is already weakened, and we continue to weaken it further with each passing day. It is unstable — and it hides this from its own citizens.

Citizens of Israel,

As I said at the beginning, we are aware of the challenging and complex reality you are experiencing. We are doing everything possible to ease the burden on the home front.

Safeguarding your security is what guides us. We will not compromise on it. We must not be complacent. The threat still exists. Your adherence to the instructions is a significant component in the success of the campaign.

This is a prolonged operation, but a necessary one. We are in the midst of it.

The entire IDF is prepared and determined to complete the mission and remove the threats against the State of Israel.

We will continue to strike in Iran and against Hezbollah until we remove the threats and achieve the objectives of the operation.