The Israeli military said Monday that it can now fly over the country's capital, Tehran, without facing major resistance after crippling Iran’s air defenses in recent strikes, enabling Israel to hit an expanding range of targets with relative ease.

Israel said Tuesday that they killed Iran’s wartime chief of staff Maj. Gen. Ali Shamdani, a close ally of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Israel stunned Iran last week with an intelligence and military operation years in the making that struck high-level targets with precision.

The Iranian military's new head of emergency command was killed in an Israeli Air Force strike only four days after his predecessor was killed in the initial hours of Israel's strikes targeting Iran's nuclear program.

The death toll is rising as Israel and Iran traded missile strikes for a third straight day. The death toll grew Sunday as Israel and Iran exchanged missile attacks for a third consecutive day, with Israel warning that worse is to come.

Israel says it first bombed Iran to stop it from being able to produce nuclear weapons and the “existential threat” they would represent.

Israel and Iran have opened a new chapter in their long history of conflict when Israel launched a major attack with strikes early Friday on Tehran.

Iran conflict could open opportunities for Russia to possibly become a power broker to help end the confrontation.