The Israel Air Force dropped 135,000 bombs collectively on the various fronts during recent years of war, dating back to October 7, 2023, the IDF announced on Friday.
Within that 135,000 number, which includes many air force-only attacks, there were 23,860 attacks during the war specifically requested by IDF Ground Forces for immediate assistance during operations in Gaza and Lebanon, the military said.
From the perspective of the air force, the way it wages war has changed radically since October 7.
Now the air force is fully integrated with the ground forces, often providing critical air support within seconds or minutes, as opposed to the hours it once took to fulfill such requests.
If at one point, the air force would not attack enemy targets if IDF soldiers were within 500 meters of the enemy, that limit was eventually dropped to 250 meters and then even below, with the military issuing numerous statements about its precision in attacking the enemy almost right next to IDF Ground Forces.
With drones and helicopters that can fly much lower to the ground, air force attacks on the enemy can be even closer to IDF Ground Forces.
Another shift in support for the ground forces is the air force’s new unit devoted specifically to countering enemy ground-force invasions, something that did not exist on October 7.
The air force revealed on Friday that even now, there are former air force chiefs who strongly oppose this shift and say that the air force should not be in the business of defending the border from ground invasions.
Air force sources believe decision to shift to border defense was correct
Despite that criticism, current air force sources say that the decision to shift on the issue was the right one.
Another statistic that the air force put out was that it has performed 2,865 evacuations of wounded soldiers on the various fronts.
After all of the discussion of assisting the ground forces, the air force has radically changed its mission in other ways in recent years.
It now flies anywhere in the Middle East it wants – including over hostile countries like Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq, on the way to attacking Iran.
In both June 2025 and 2026, the air force achieved total air supremacy over Iran, without losing a single pilot-manned aircraft, though it did lose dozens of drones.
Meanwhile, the air force revealed on Friday that Syria is gradually rebuilding its military capabilities, including its radar and air defenses.
In December 2024, when the Bashar al-Assad regime fell, the air force destroyed most of Syria’s strategic and long-range weapons, including most of its better air defenses.
However, the US is currently still warming to the new Syrian regime led by Ahmed al-Sharaa and has blocked Israel from most military activity in the country in recent months, other than permitting it to hold onto a buffer zone in southern Syria.
The latest revelations about the return of Syrian air defenses could substantially impact Israel’s security at a strategic level in a number of ways, depending on how far the Syrians go and the state of relations between Jerusalem and Damascus.