New details are emerging about how Israel carried out its strike targeting, among others, senior Iranian officials.

Specifically, an Israeli security official told Fox News that Israel managed to deceive senior Iranian air force commanders to bring them together for a meeting.

“We took specific actions that helped us learn more about them and then used that information to influence their behavior,” the official said. “We knew this would lead them to a meeting – but more importantly, we knew how to keep them there.”

The official added that the attacks were more successful than Israel had expected. According to the same source, air defense systems and ballistic missiles intended for use against Israel were targeted as a precautionary measure.

It should be noted that at least 20 senior Iranian commanders, including the head of the Revolutionary Guards’ Aerospace Force (IRGC), Amir Ali Hajizadeh, were killed on Friday by Israeli strikes on Iran, according to two regional sources cited by Reuters. The attacks constitute one of the bloodiest strikes against the Iranian military leadership in recent years amid escalating tensions between the two countries.

Recall that earlier, Benjamin Netanyahu said the airstrikes – dubbed Operation Rising Lion – were “a targeted military operation aimed at curbing the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival.”

Netanyahu noted that the operation “will continue as long as necessary to eliminate the spread of the threat.”