Preparation for the lethal preemptive strike against Iran began back in October, at the height of fighting against Hezbollah. Intelligence officials said regarding Iranian command and control that the situation is "exceptional": "Currently we've hit about three times more than we thought we would and degraded more capabilities than we believed possible. We didn't think that everyone we could access would also present an operational opportunity for the Air Force to strike. And there are more targets in the bank – it will take about a week to complete the execution of missions, but of course everything depends on what happens, and if needed – we will attack more."