Tehran / Tel Aviv — In a blistering air campaign that military analysts say has “no precedent in the modern Middle East,” Israeli F‑35, F‑15 and F‑16 fighter jets have dominated Iranian airspace, dropping an estimated 2,000 precision bombs and missiles in just 30 hours.

The operation began before dawn, as stealth F‑35s slipped in ahead of the main strike packages, hunting air‑defence radars, command bunkers and long‑range missile batteries. Minutes later, waves of F‑15 and F‑16 strike fighters followed, hitting Revolutionary Guard bases, drone hubs and suspected nuclear and ballistic‑missile sites from the Gulf coast to the outskirts of Tehran. Residents described an almost continuous rumble overhead and flashes on the horizon “every few minutes” through the night.

Iranian state TV admits to “serious damage” at multiple military facilities but claims many incoming munitions were intercepted. On social media, however, videos show burning depots, cratered runways and long lines of ambulances outside overcrowded hospitals. One Iranian officer, speaking anonymously, called it “thirty hours of sky we did not control.”

Israeli officials say the goal was to create a “temporary air‑supremacy window” and use it mercilessly, arguing that crippling Iran’s strike capabilities now will save lives later in Israel and across the region. Critics abroad warn the sheer intensity of the bombardment risks catastrophic miscalculation and an entrenched, long‑term war.

As the tempo of sorties finally slows, key questions remain: how much of Iran’s arsenal has truly been destroyed, how long can Israel sustain such operations — and what kind of retaliation Tehran will gamble on after watching its skies ruled from above.