Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he expected "several waves of Iranian attacks" in response to Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic on Friday, saying he had initially planned an attack in April.

"We expect to be exposed to several waves of Iranian attacks," Netanyahu said in a video statement, after Israel struck military and nuclear sites in Iran in the early hours of Friday.

For Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a blistering attack on the heart of Iran’s nuclear and military structure distracts attention from Israel’s ongoing and increasingly devastating war in Gaza, which is now over 20 months old.

There is a broad consensus in the Israeli public that Iran is a major threat, and Israel’s opposition leader, Yair Lapid, a staunch critic of Netanyahu, offered his “full support” for the mission against Iran. But if Iranian reprisals cause heavy Israeli casualties or major disruptions to daily life, public opinion could shift quickly.

Israeli leaders cast a blistering attack on the heart of Iran’s nuclear and military structure as necessary to head off an imminent threat that Iran would build nuclear bombs, though it remains unclear how close the country is to achieving that or whether Iran had actually been planning a strike. Iran maintains its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only.

"This is a clear and present danger to Israel’s very survival,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed as he vowed to pursue the attack for as long as necessary to “remove this threat.”

Israel's military said on Friday it had begun deploying reservists "to all combat arenas throughout the country" after launching a wave of strikes on military and nuclear sites in Iran.

The military said in a statement that it "began to deploy reservists from different units to all combat arenas throughout the country", calling it part of "preparations for defense and offence across all arenas".

The United States is shifting military resources, including ships, in the Middle East in response to Israel's strikes on Iran and a possible retaliatory attack by Tehran, two U.S. officials said Friday.

The Navy has directed the destroyer USS Thomas Hudner, which is capable of defending against ballistic missiles, to begin sailing from the western Mediterranean Sea toward the eastern Mediterranean and has directed a second destroyer to begin moving forward so it can be available if requested by the White House.

Israel targeted leading members of Iran's armed forces on Friday during its unprecedented onslaught hitting military and nuclear targets across the country.

Here is what we know about some of the top figures killed:

Israel's massive strike on Iran on Friday morning came after decades of mutual hostility and a long-running shadow war of covert strikes and sabotage.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long identified Iran as its greatest threat, citing the country's nuclear program, its hostile rhetoric and support for anti-Israel militant groups across the region. Iran has championed the Palestinian cause and portrayed Israel as a malicious Western encroachment on the Middle East.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards confirmed that its aerospace commander had been killed with fellow officers in an Israeli air strike on their command center on Friday.

"Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps aerospace force Major General Amirali Hajizadeh... along with a group of brave and dedicated fighters of this force, were martyred" in an Israeli attack on their command center, the Guards said in a statement.

A fresh round of explosions was heard in northwestern Iran on Friday, state television reported, after Israel carried out a wave of strikes on multiple cities.

Israel launched fresh attacks on a key underground uranium enrichment facility in central Iran on Friday, Iranian state media reported.

U.S. President Donald Trump urged Iran on Friday to "make a deal," warning that there will be more "death and destruction" after Israel launched deadly strikes targeting Iranian nuclear facilities.

His comments on his Truth Social platform came after Israel pounded Iran in a series of air raids on Friday, striking 100 targets.