While the United States and Iran have already signed a ceasefire memorandum, Israel is continuing to prepare for the next war, according to Colonel Res. S., who runs the IDF target bank and commands the Air Force unit “Nahlat Binyamin.” He told Maariv that power plants and oil industry sites in Iran are ready to be struck if the political leadership orders it. “We are ready and prepared to attack,” he said, adding, “The moment the political echelon orders us to attack them, we will attack.”
S. said his unit turns intelligence into operational airstrike plans across Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iran, deciding on munitions, number of aircraft, strike methods and how to limit collateral damage. He also revealed new details about the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut’s Dahieh district, saying Israel knew his hideouts, apartments and bunkers. According to him, dozens of bombs were dropped on an underground compound hidden beneath a high-rise residential building, and an engineering vehicle that later tried to reach the ruins was struck from the air. He also cited earlier assassinations of Fuad Shukr, known as “Sayyed Mohsen,” in July 2024, and Ibrahim Aqil, Hezbollah’s operations chief and Radwan Force commander.
The officer said that on 11 October 2023, just days after the 7 October massacre, a large strike in Dahieh was ready while Hezbollah’s top brass was gathered in buildings known to Israel, but the political leadership ordered the aircraft to turn back. “The planes were already in the air when the political echelon instructed us to turn around,” he said, arguing that the war would have looked very different if it had gone ahead. He added that the ceasefire with Iran now restricts Israel’s activity in Dahieh, although strike plans for many sites remain ready. “There are not enough bombs in the world to blow up all of Dahieh,” he said.
S. also described the killing of Mohammed Sinwar, Yahya Sinwar’s brother, near the European Hospital in Khan Younis, saying intelligence arrived in real time and aircraft were quickly redirected from another mission to hit a tunnel without collapsing the hospital. In Syria, he said the fall of Assad’s regime forced rapid updates to old plans, leading to the destruction of significant military capabilities to prevent weapons from reaching hostile hands. He also discussed Air Force strikes in Iran under operations “Am Kalavi” and “Shagat Ha’ari,” saying Israel hit air defenses, airports, headquarters, weapons industries and infrastructure, but Iran has recovered quickly thanks to years of sanctions-driven local industry. “They are recovering very fast,” he said, noting that attacks on the Basij inflicted heavy losses but did not topple the regime. His bottom line was that the ceasefire has paused open fighting, but the next war is already being planned.
