Israel's "Operation Rising Lion", as it calls its attack on Iran, is unprecedented. It is vastly more extensive and ambitious than anything that has come before, including the two missile and drone exchanges it had with Iran last year. For Iran, this is the biggest assault on its territory since the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-1988.
In the darkest hours before dawn the Israeli Air Force targeted not just sites linked to Iran's nuclear programme but also the country's air defences and ballistic missile bases, thereby reducing Iran's ability to retaliate.
On the ground and in the shadows, the network of operatives working for Mossad, Israel's overseas intelligence agency, reportedly helped to pinpoint the exact location of key figures in both the military command and nuclear scientists.
Those killed overnight include the head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the guardians of the Islamic Revolution that overthrew the Shah's regime in 1979, as well as the head of the mainstream armed forces and the head of the IRGC air force. Iran says at least six of its scientists have been killed.
Once again, Israel's spy agency is shown to have successfully penetrated the very heart of Iran's security establishment, proving that no one there is safe.
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There will be many more potential targets on Israel's hitlist, although some may be beyond its reach
Iran's state TV reported that 78 people were killed and said that civilians, including children, were among the dead. (This is an unofficial figure and has not been independently verified.)
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