▲ Eyal Zamir, Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (left), visiting a military training site
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which halted airstrikes on Iran after one day following intervention by U.S. President Donald Trump, stated on June 9 (local time) that it had initially planned a much harsher strike.
During a visit to a military training site that day, IDF Chief of the General Staff Eyal Zamir said, "Iran attempted to impose new rules in its favor. Such attempts will fail," adding, "Israel had initially planned a much more significant and severe strike against the Iranian regime."
He further emphasized, "We will continue to intensify strikes against the Hezbollah terrorist organization while maintaining unwavering defense operations in Israel's northern region."
Chief Zamir added, "The IDF has maintained full combat readiness to engage with Iran again at any time, and we will continue to do so."
Regarding the recent armed conflict with Iran, he explained, "All of our defensive and offensive systems were at the highest level of alert. We successfully intercepted incoming threats and immediately launched a swift and powerful strike against Iran."
He further claimed, "The strike we carried out against Iran this time was, in fact, a precursor to delivering a much more significant and severe blow."
Chief Zamir reiterated, "We are prepared to deliver a painful strike deep into Iranian territory at any time."
Previously, the IDF conducted an airstrike on the Hezbollah headquarters in the southern suburbs of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, on June 7.
In retaliation, Iran fired approximately 30 ballistic missiles at Israel starting that night, and Israel responded by deploying fighter jets to conduct two rounds of airstrikes on Iran's air defense systems and petrochemical complexes.
Following this, President Trump called for restraint from both sides, and Iran and Israel announced on June 8 that they would cease attacks against each other.
(Photo: Courtesy of the Israel Defense Forces, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.