For decades, Israel and Iran have been fighting a shadow war across the Middle East, commercial attacks by land, sea, air and cyberspace. The barrage of drones and missiles that Iran launched into Israel on Saturday – although nearly all were shot down or intercepted – marked a turning point in the conflict.
According to Ahron Bregman, a political scientist and expert on Middle East security issues at King's College in London, this is the first time Iran has directly attacked Israel from its territory. He called this a “historic event”.
Iran primarily uses foreign proxies such as Lebanon's Hezbollah militia to attack Israeli interests, while there are targeted assassinations of military leaders and nuclear scientists. Iran is an important part of Israel's strategy. Here is the recent history of the conflict:
August 2019: An Israeli airstrike killed two Iranian-trained fighters in Syria, a drone caused an explosion near a Hezbollah office in Lebanon, and an airstrike in Qaim, Iraq, killed one commander of the Iran-backed Iraqi militia. Israel at that time accused Iran about trying to establish a land arms supply line through Iraq and northern Syria to Lebanon, and analysts said the attacks were intended to deter Iran and signal to its proxies that Israel will not accept a fleet of smart missiles on its borders.
January 2020: Israel welcomed with satisfaction the assassination of Major General Qassim Suleimanicommander of the foreign affairs force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, during a US drone strike in Baghdad.
Iran responded Attack two bases in Iraq, where US troops were attacked by a barrage of rockets, injuring approx 100 American soldiers.
2021-22: In July 2021, an oil tanker was managed by a company Israeli-owned shipping company was attacked off the coast of Oman, killing two crew members, according to the company and three Israeli officials. Two of the officials said the attack appeared to be carried out by an Iranian drone.
Iran did not explicitly claim or deny responsibility, but a state television channel described the attack as a response to Israel's attack on Syria.
In November 2021, Israel killed Iran's top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadehand then the assassination of a Revolutionary Guard commander, Colonel Sayad Khodayeein May 2022.
December 2023: After Israel began bombarding Gaza in response to the October 7 Hamas-led attacks, Iran-backed militias strengthen their own attacks. And late last year, Iran accused Israel killing a senior military figure, Brig. General Sayyed Razi Mousaviduring a missile attack in Syria.
A senior adviser to the Revolutionary Guard, General Mousavi was described as a close associate of General Suleimani and is believed to have helped oversee weapons shipments to Hezbollah. Israel, adopting its usual stance, refused to comment directly on whether it was behind General Mousavi's death.
January 2024: An explosion on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, was killed Saleh al-Arouri, a leader of Hamas, along with two commanders from that group's armed wing, assassinated a top Hamas official outside the West Bank and Gaza in recent years. Officials from Hamas, Lebanon and the United States blamed the attack on Israeldid not publicly confirm participation.
Hezbollah, which receives major support from Iran, increased attacks on Israel after the death of Mr. al-Arouri. Israeli army fight back against Hezbollah in Lebanon, killing many people leader of the group.
March and April: An Israeli drone strike struck a car in southern Lebanon, killing at least one person. The Israeli army said it killed the deputy commander of Hezbollah's rocket and missile unit. Hezbollah acknowledged the death of one man, Ali Abdulhassan Naim, but did not provide further details.
That same day, air strikes kill soldiers near Aleppo, northern Syria, in what appeared to be one of the heaviest Israeli attacks on the country in years. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group that monitors the civil war in Syria, the attacks killed 36 Syrian soldiers, seven Hezbollah fighters and one Syrian from a pro-democracy militia. Iran.
The Israeli army did not claim responsibility. But the country's Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, wrote on social media, “We will pursue Hezbollah everywhere it operates and we will expand the pressure and speed of attacks.”
Three days later, attacks on the Iranian Embassy building in Damascus killed three top Iranian commanders and four officers, an attack Iran blamed on Israel.
Matthew Mpoke Bigg Report contributions.
