Iran-linked militants in Iraq have carried out about 40 attacks using missiles, drones or rockets. Israel The past two and a half weeks have seen the latest escalation of an implicit proxy war across much of the Middle East.
The attacks began when the war in Gaza began in October last year, data compiled by the Washington Institute, a US-based think tank, shows a sharp increase in their pace after Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, in an airstrike on September 27.
Founded in Lebanon 40 years ago with Iranian sponsorship, Hezbollah is the cornerstone of a loose alliance of extremist groups. Iran in recent decades.
With Hamas significantly weakened after a year of war in Gaza and Hezbollah now reeling from continued Israeli air and ground attacks in Lebanon, Tehran aims to attack the younger members of the fragmented coalition it has backed across the Middle East. archenemy
“Number of missiles and drones launched from Iraq [at Israel] It has been triggered. They have taken a big step to show their support for Hezbollah,” said Michael Knights, an analyst at the Washington Institute who follows the militants' activities in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere. Yemen.
The missile launches from Iraq underscore Iran's strategy of using members of its “opposition axis” to support each other against Israel, as well as factional rivalry.
“He [militia in Iraq] “They are not as incompetent as Hezbollah or as crazy as the Houthis, so they are worried about being overshadowed by others in the press,” Knights said.
Analysts say Iran's proxies in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, along with Houthi militias that have fired missiles at Israel and attacked ships in the Red Sea, are possible targets for Israel. 180 ballistic missiles aimed at Israel.
Israel has carried out dozens of airstrikes and at least one major ground attack by commandos in Syria last year. Militant groups there, backed by Iran, seek to expand and secure critical supply routes that allow Hezbollah in Lebanon to send supplies to Iran.
Thousands of pagers issued to members by Hezbollah were detonated last month in what is widely believed to have been an Israeli sabotage operation, with injuries reported in Syria, Yemen and Lebanon. Some reports put 40 people dead or injured in Yemen.
Kirsten Fontenrose, an expert at the Atlantic Council think tank, described pager bursts as “a moment of light flickering across a dark network map.”
“The spontaneous combustion of Hezbollah's communications devices is helping intelligence communities around the world map the links of the US-designated terrorist organization, from Lebanon to Syria to Yemen globally,” Fontenrose wrote.
In an Israeli operation last month, special forces attacked an Iran-linked weapons production facility in Masyaf in western Syria, near the Lebanese border. Troops reportedly raided underground facilities, destroyed equipment and seized important documents and data.
Israel, which has been carrying out attacks against Iran-linked targets in Syria for years, stepped up its attacks on October 7, 2023 following an attack by the Iranian-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas in southern Israel.
Recent Israeli strikes have targeted an industrial site in the Syrian city of Homs, a warehouse near the port of Latakia, a military base in the countryside near Hama and a residential building in the western Damascus suburb of Mezza. Nasrallah's son-in-law, Hassan Jaber al-Kasir, was reportedly killed in the attack.
An Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus in April killed a senior commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard al-Quds force, his assistant and several long-serving diplomats. Iran responded with massive missile and drone attacks against Israel.
So far, Israel has not launched attacks in Iraq, but it has attacked Iraqi opponents in Syria, including leaders of Iranian-backed militias that call themselves the Islamic Resistance of Iraq (IRI). The IRI, which was founded weeks after the Gaza conflict began, claimed responsibility for attacks on Israel and US forces in Iraq and Syria between October and June.
Syrian militants killed three US service members and wounded 30 in a drone attack in Jordan in January. Days later, U.S. warplanes struck more than 85 targets at seven facilities that the Pentagon said were used by groups affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guard.
The targets included command and control centers, intelligence facilities and weapons storage facilities used by militants to attack US and coalition forces, according to a report. Department of Defense report.
After the IRI opened fire on Eilat in September, an IRI commander was killed in an Israeli drone strike near Damascus airport. Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said Israel was monitoring the threat from Iraq and would do “whatever is necessary to deal with the situation.”
In a sign of closer cooperation between the two representatives, the IRI has been working with the Houthis, who have recently increased their presence in Iraq. A US strike in July killed a mid-level Houthi commander along with four Iraqi fighters south of Baghdad, and the Houthis are believed to have stakes in a lucrative business network in Baghdad.
Israel has twice attacked Yemen directly, destroying oil storage facilities and power plants in what appeared to be a warning to Iran. The most recent attack killed 62 civilians, according to the Yemen Data Project, a monitoring group.
The conflicts in Iraq and Syria have received little attention from the media and policymakers. The Knights said: “Every great war has its forgotten corners.”
