Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said on Tuesday that Israel is “prepared to keep operating for weeks to come,” even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted that the war against Iran was “definitely beyond the halfway point” as it entered its fifth week.
“We are prepared to keep operating for weeks to come. We have the targets for that, the munition for that, the manpower for that. And it’s up to the leadership to decide,” Shoshani said on Tuesday.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Tuesday that all of its “critical” and “essential” targets in Iran will have been destroyed by Passover, which begins on Wednesday.
The IDF defined “critical” targets as Iranian weapons that directly threaten Israel, including key elements of its nuclear program, while “essential” targets are key elements of the Iranian military-industrial complex that do not pose an imminent threat by themselves, such as satellite launch facilities.
Iran’s domestically built missiles and satellite carriers are displayed in a permanent exhibition at a recreational area in northern Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Added together, critical and essential targets make up about 30 to 40 percent of the bombing objectives set by Israeli leaders before the operation began. The IDF said it would be possible to declare victory after eliminating the remaining critical and essential targets, but it would prefer to continue degrading Iran’s military-industrial complex to weaken the regime. This goal seems consistent with Shoshani’s hint that a few more weeks of airstrikes are planned.
Israeli warplanes struck major Iranian weapons factories in Tehran over the weekend, including plants that manufacture key ballistic missile components and drone engines. The IDF said it was also able to destroy several of Iran’s temporary command centers, eliminating high-ranking officers who were inside, as well as some of Iran’s remaining anti-air weapons.
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On Friday, the IDF said a massive attack involving over 50 warplanes inflicted severe damage on the Khandab heavy water reactor, and a uranium enrichment facility in Ardakan that produced yellowcake uranium powder for nuclear fuel.
Netanyahu told Newsmax on Monday that the operation in Iran is “beyond the halfway point in terms of mission success,” although he said he did not wish to “put a schedule” on the remainder of the war.
“We’ve already degraded their missile capabilities, destroyed factories, and eliminated key nuclear scientists,” he noted, praising the “steady progress” of the mission so far.
Netanyahu said the current focus of the operation “is on their enriched uranium stockpile,” which he and President Donald Trump agree must be destroyed or taken into custody. He also said it was important to weaken Iran’s capacity for spreading terror and chaos across the Middle East, and around the world, noting that the regime in Tehran has “killed and maimed more Americans than any other force in recent decades.”
“Thousands and thousands killed and maimed in Afghanistan by Iranian IEDs. They bombed our embassies. They tried to kill President Trump twice. They’re still trying to kill him,” he said.
Netanyahu said it was important to hit economic targets in Iran, because the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) — the elite theocratic wing of the Iranian military — directly controls most of Iran’s production capacity and financial resources.
“The steel plants are controlled by the IRGC, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, who are basically the terror apparatus that controls Iran,” he said. “You’re really attacking the war machine of the Revolutionary Guards. It’s like taking factories out of the SS.”
