Despite stunning early successes in Israel’s unprecedented strikes on Iran, a weekend of intensive bombardment and retaliation is raising questions about Israel’s exit strategy – how it can end this conflict with its ambitious goals achieved.

The missile and air war that Israel and Iran have spent decades planning for has come, and it is spectacular and terrifying. Israeli officials say they need at least two weeks to degrade Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities.

In recent months, however, Israel talked about a unique window of opportunity to strike Iranian facilities: Iran’s air defences had been damaged by Israeli attacks last year and its proxies in the region, part of what Tehran calls the Axis of Resistance, had been degraded, including Hezbollah.