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.

President Donald Trump in about eight hours went from suggesting a nuclear deal with Iran remained “achievable” to urging Tehran’s 9.5 million residents to flee for their lives as he cut short his visit to an international summit to return to Washington for urgent talks with his national security team.

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