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Israel’s military is planning for at least three more weeks of its campaign against Iran, with “thousands of targets ahead,” an Israeli army spokesperson said.
Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, a spokesperson for the Israeli military, told CNN that the campaign is continuing in coordination with the United States.
“We have thousands of targets ahead,” Defrin said.
Defrin said Israeli forces are preparing operations through at least the Jewish holiday of Passover, about three weeks away, and could continue even longer.
“We are ready, in coordination with our U.S. allies, with plans through at least the Jewish holiday of Passover, about three weeks from now. And we have deeper plans for even three weeks beyond that,” he said.
Defrin added that the military is not operating on a strict timetable.
“We are not working according to a stopwatch or a timetable, but rather to achieve our goals,” he said, adding that the objective is to “weaken the Iranian regime severely.”
According to Israeli officials, the Israeli Air Force has carried out roughly 400 waves of strikes in western and central Iran since the campaign began on Feb. 28.
The strikes have focused on infrastructure as well as personnel linked to fire, defense, and production units.
Officials say the United States and Israel have struck thousands of targets since the start of the war.
Defrin said the scale of the U.S.-Israeli offensive against Iran prompted Lebanon’s Hezbollah to enter the conflict.
He said the group had stayed out during last summer’s 12-day war but joined the current fighting once it expanded.
“In June, they understood that it was a limited campaign in Iran, so they didn’t attack. Now that it’s all out, they join in,” he said.
Israeli officials say military operations in Lebanon could continue even after the war with Iran ends.
The Israeli army has sent additional troops to the northern border and is attempting to seize territory and push Hezbollah forces back.
The war began on Feb. 28 when Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Iran.
Over 1,200 people have been killed in the strikes, including Iran’s then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran has responded with drone and missile attacks targeting Israel as well as Jordan, Iraq, and Gulf countries that host U.S. military assets.
The conflict has also spread into Lebanon, where Israeli attacks have killed more than 800 people and injured over 2,000 since March 2 amid cross-border fighting with Hezbollah.
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