Inside Israel’s War Room: How the Air Force Took Out Iran’s Top Commanders

In the early hours of Israel’s bold offensive against Iran, unprecedented access has revealed what unfolded behind the scenes inside the Israeli Air Force’s war room known as “the Pit” during one of the most significant military operations in recent history.

As the operation’s opening salvo approached, senior IDF commanders were gathered deep inside the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, surrounded by high-level intelligence officers. Their focus: determining in real time whether top Iranian regime figures were “locked in,” military slang for confirmed, real-time geolocation that would allow for an immediate strike. According to those present, the atmosphere was tense and almost eerily silent. No one spoke.

On the central operations wall, a massive live-updating board displayed headshots and names of key Iranian figures. Each photo was marked either red or green, depending on whether intelligence had confirmed the individual’s location.

At the top of the target board were five primary individuals deemed essential to the success of the mission. These included IRGC Commander Hossein Salami, Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri, Commander of the Emergency Command Rashid, nuclear program overseer Ali Shamkhani, and IRGC Aerospace Force Commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh. Without confirmed hits on these figures, the operation would have been considered incomplete. Below them were secondary and tertiary targets, still high-ranking, but not mission-critical.

One by one, intelligence officers began confirming the presence of individuals in known locations. As names were called, photos on the board turned green. Tension gave way to breathless anticipation. Even names that hadn’t appeared in the original mission blueprint were added to the board as intelligence flowed in.

Once a sufficient number of high-priority targets were confirmed, the go-ahead was given. Israeli fighter jets, which had been holding in position, launched their missiles. The war room fell into silence again as the first impacts registered. For several minutes, no one spoke. Officers typed furiously at their terminals as intelligence began pouring in.

The first updates came from attacks on three top-tier targets, Salami, Bagheri, and Rashid, all struck while inside residential buildings, making intelligence collection swift. A female intelligence officer from Military Intelligence stood and declared: “I think we succeeded.” Applause broke out briefly before the command room leader interjected: “Guys, silence. We continue working.”

A similar sequence repeated when another senior figure’s elimination was confirmed. Applause again, followed by a quiet reminder to stay focused.

Eventually, the board displayed a decisive message: "Positive Initial BDA" Battle Damage Assessment, confirming high-confidence kills. When the death of the IRGC Aerospace Force Commander Hajizadeh was verified, Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar quietly celebrated, making a fist pump and joking with his staff: “You all know I only care about one guy here…”

The operation, kept under strict secrecy, now appears to mark a watershed moment in Israel’s long-running shadow war with Iran. With elite leadership figures likely eliminated in coordinated strikes, the message is clear: the rules of engagement have changed.