Iran Attacking Israel on Multiple Fronts

Latest Developments

Attacks on Israel from four separate arenas in as many days demonstrate Iran’s success in penetrating the region. On Wednesday and Thursday, terrorists in Gaza fired rockets into southern Israel. On Thursday, Palestinian factions in Lebanon fired a barrage of rockets into northern Israel. On Friday, two separate terror attacks — one in Tel Aviv and another in the West Bank — killed four and wounded several more. On Saturday evening, two separate salvos of rockets were fired at Israel from Syria. In the midst of this escalation, senior Hamas officials met with Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, highlighting the deepened cooperation the Iran-backed terror organizations enjoy.

Expert Analysis

“Iran has spent decades working to unite Israel’s enemies under its own umbrella. The Islamist regime is testing the resolve of the Jewish state from footholds in Lebanon, Syria, Gaza, and the West Bank. While it appears that all sides wish to avoid a major conflict at this point, Israel will likely respond to Iran’s provocations with force at the time and place of its choosing in order to restore Israel’s deterrence, which has deteriorated significantly in recent days.” — Enia Krivine, Senior Director of FDD’s Israel Program and National Security Network

“There is no doubt that Iran is behind the attacks Israel is facing on four fronts. However, the Islamist regime is using its Palestinian proxies to attack the Jewish state so as not to escalate into a full-blown conflict between Tehran and Jerusalem. Rather, the mullahs prefer to remain in the shadows and continue to build their capabilities — both nuclear and conventional — while their regional subsidiaries do the Iranian regime’s bidding.” — Jacob Nagel, FDD Senior Fellow

Iran Convening Terrorists in Lebanon

Since the May 2021 Gaza war between Israel and Hamas, evidence has surfaced indicating that Iran has facilitated the establishment of a joint operations room in Lebanon to coordinate efforts between the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iranian-backed terror organizations Hezbollah and Hamas. While the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have blamed Hamas for the attacks, it is unlikely that Hamas could have fired rockets at Israel from southern Lebanon without explicit permission from Hezbollah. Daniel Hagari, an IDF spokesman, told reporters that Israel sees a “convergence of the arenas” that threaten the Jewish state.

Israel Warned That Hamas Could Pull Lebanon Into War With Israel

In May 2018, then-Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon wrote a letter to the UN secretary-general and to the UN Security Council president warning of the growing cooperation among Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran. While the letter was not made public at the time, a copy was shared with FDD. In the letter, Danon noted that Hamas has been covertly building a military force in Lebanon, which could “pull Lebanon into a conflict with Israel.”