ISTANBUL 

Israel plans to destroy Iran’s heavily fortified Fordow nuclear facility on its own, a senior military official said on Wednesday.

“Israel has a plan for Fordow and the ability to carry it out on its own,” the unnamed official told The Wall Street Journal.

He, however, did not provide any details about the plan to destroy the underground facility, located 30 kilometers (20 miles) from Qom city in north-central Iran.

Ehud Eilam, a former researcher at the Israeli Defense Ministry, said Israel could deploy a large number of small penetrator bombs capable of burrowing into hardened targets.

He referenced past Israeli tactics, such as the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah last September in an underground Beirut bunker, as a model for potential attacks on Fordow.

“It could also try a risky commando raid or more covert means such as cyberattacks and targeted killings,” he added.

Fordow is one of Iran’s most sensitive nuclear sites. It poses a significant challenge to Israel due to its location deep within the mountains of Qom, making it highly resistant to conventional airstrikes.

Israel claims that Iran is close to producing a nuclear bomb, an allegation vehemently denied by Tehran. Iran says that its nuclear program is purely for peaceful purposes.

Regional tensions have escalated since Friday, when Israel launched airstrikes on multiple sites across Iran, including military and nuclear facilities, prompting Tehran to launch retaliatory strikes.

Israeli authorities said at least 24 people have been killed and hundreds injured since then in Iranian missile attacks.

Meanwhile, in Iran, 585 people have been killed and more than 1,300 wounded in the Israeli assault, according to Iranian media reports.