64 No. 76 JUSTICE verview On June 13, 2025, Israel initiated Operation ‘Rising Lion’ (the ‘Operation’) to neutralize the existential and imminent threat posed by the Iranian regime’s nuclear weapons program, as well as the threat posed by its ballistic missiles program and other military activities against Israel. The factual and legal context of the Operation: A years-long international armed conflict between Iran and Israel, governed by the law of armed conflict. The Operation took place within the wider ongoing armed conflict between Iran and Israel, which commenced with Iranian aggression against Israel. This years-long conflict is fueled by the Iranian regime’s declared policy and operational plan to annihilate the State of Israel. The conflict has different facets: first, continuous direct hostilities – both overt and covert – between Iran and Israel; and second, hostilities waged by Iran against Israel indirectly through terrorist armed groups, who are engaged in their own ongoing armed conflicts against Israel – in particular in the form of Iran’s substantial involvement in acts of force carried out by these groups against Israel. The decisive trigger for the Operation: The Iranian regime’s accelerated efforts to obtain nuclear weapons. Within this ongoing armed conflict, Israel launched the Operation due to the Iranian regime’s rapid acceleration of all components of its nuclear weapons program to the point where it could have produced a significant number of nuclear weapons within a very short timeframe. The Iranian regime has also engaged in efforts to rapidly increase its production of ballistic missiles and associated infrastructure, which would have provided Iran with an arsenal of many thousands of ballistic missiles – dramatically enhancing Iran’s war waging capabilities in the ongoing armed conflict between the two States and posing a severe threat to Israel. Israel’s actions during the Operation were in accordance with the law of armed conflict. This includes the rules of distinction, proportionality and precautions in attacks. Attacks were aimed solely at military objectives, such as facilities and sites which serve the regime’s nuclear weapons program and ballistic missiles program, other military installations and materiel, members of the Iranian armed forces (including those orchestrating the regime’s relationship with terrorist armed groups operating against Israel), and other persons who take a direct part in the hostilities. Israel took all feasible steps to mitigate incidental harm to civilians and civilian objects. Israel also considered and took actions with a view to avoid the potential risk of radioactive fallout as a result of attacks against nuclear installations. The Iranian regime consistently violated the law of armed conflict in its attacks against Israel. The Iranian regime fired hundreds of ballistic missiles and armed drones towards Israel. These attacks were not limited to military objectives. Instead, the regime deliberately and systematically targeted civilian objects and population centers across Israel. It purposefully chose means and methods of warfare to maximize civilian harm, including by indiscriminately attacking densely populated civilian areas with missiles carrying multiple cluster submunitions that dispersed over several kilometers. Such attacks constitute clear violations of international law. The Iranian regime also published disinformation in an attempt to disguise its indiscriminate attacks on the civilian population as attacks against military objectives. Operation “Rising Lion”: Key Factual and Legal Aspects of the Iran-Israel Hostilities, June 13-24, 2025* Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Jerusalem) * Israel’s official factual and legal overview of Operation “Rising Lion,” the military campaign conducted against Iran between 13–24 June 2025, updated Aug. 12, 2025. https://www.gov.il./BlobFolder/generalpage/operation-rising-lionkey-factual-and-legal-aspects-of-the-iran-israel-hostilities-june-2025-11-aug-2025/en/English_Swords_of_Iron_ DOCUMENTS_Operation_Rising_ Lion_2025_Israel-Iran-Key_Factual_and_Legal_Aspects2.pdf O
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjgzNzA=