The latest escalation of tension between Iran and Israel, which culminated in a new attack with around 200 missiles by the Islamic regime against Israeli territory this Tuesday (1st), can be understood from a sequence of relevant events that occurred in recent weeks and months in the Middle East.
Iran’s first attack against Israel occurred in April this year, when the Islamic regime launched around 300 missiles and drones against Israeli territory in response to a bombing attributed to the country led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria. . The attack in Damascus resulted in the death of a senior member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard along with six other people. The Iranian regime, on this occasion, declared that it had attacked Israel for what it considered an “aggression” – even though Israel did not claim responsibility for the attack in Syria. Although 99% of the attack was intercepted, some missiles managed to bypass Israeli defenses that month. This first attack was a clear sign that the tension between the two nations was far from resolved.
After the April missiles and drones, Iran, through its leadership, had stated that it did not intend to escalate the confrontation with Israel, but this promise was quickly put to the test with the death of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas terrorist leader, in the end of July. Iran-backed Hamas attributed Haniyeh’s death to an Israeli attack in Tehran, where he was on an official visit for the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian. Israel did not claim responsibility for the attack, nor did it comment.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, promised at that moment revenge for the death of the Palestinian terrorist leader. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the country’s armed wing that provides assistance to terrorist groups, also declared that the “Zionist regime” would face “a harsh and painful response at the appropriate time, place and form”, highlighting the regime’s already growing “outrage”. Islamic view of Israel’s alleged actions.
Despite open threats and seeing Hamas, one of the members of its “Axis of Resistance”, being hit hard by Haniyeh’s death, Iran did not actually launch any direct attack against Israel. However, a month after Haniyeh’s death, the situation between the two countries worsened again and came to the fore when, on September 17, explosions hit pager-type messaging devices and walkie-talkies belonging to members of Hezbollah, the main terrorist group supported by Iran, in several locations in southern Lebanon. Similar explosions were also recorded in Syria, and both Hezbollah and Iran attributed responsibility to Israel, which has not confirmed its role in the incident.
The explosions of the messaging devices resulted in the deaths of more than 30 people and injured around 3,500. Lebanese journalist Kim Ghattas, from the American magazine The Atlanticinterpreted the attacks as a clear message from Israel to Hezbollah, signaling that the country had extensive knowledge of the group’s operations and that any increase in hostility would be met with even greater violence.
Hezbollah has been attacking northern Israel since the beginning of the Israeli operation in Gaza, where soldiers are fighting the terrorist group Hamas, which carried out an attack against Israel on October 7, 2023. Hezbollah terrorists, a group that operates and controls parts of southern Lebanon, claim that the attacks against northern Israel are carried out in “solidarity” with the Palestinian people, who, according to Israel, are being used as a human shield by Hamas terrorists.
Israel has been denouncing for weeks the attacks by Hezbollah against the north of its territory, which have prevented residents of local communities from returning to their homes safely. To combat Lebanese terrorists and cease their attacks, Israel then decided to intensify its bombings against southern Lebanon, starting to directly hit targets of the terrorist group.
On September 27, the country led by Netanyahu dealt a fatal blow to Hezbollah, by bombing the terrorist group’s headquarters located south of Beirut and killing its leader, Hassan Nasrallah. Nasrallah’s death intensified Iran’s anger, which again issued threats of retaliation against Israel. The Iranian regime’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Nasser Kanani, declared at that time that Iran was ready to give “a response” that would be “regrettable for those who violate our national interests.” The warlike rhetoric on the part of Tehran was clear: “the Zionist regime will not go unpunished for the crimes it committed against Iran,” he stated.
This Monday (30), before Iran’s new missile attack, Israel advanced on Hezbollah by entering Lebanon for the first time since 2006, more precisely in the south of the country, to destroy the infrastructure used by the terrorist group. The action took place days after the death of Nasrallah and an Iranian Revolutionary Guard general who was in Lebanon.
Israel described the new operation in southern Lebanon as “limited and localized”, which aims to neutralize direct threats to northern Israel.
This Tuesday, after Iran’s new missile attack, Netanyahu spoke out saying that the Islamic regime’s act was a big mistake” and that Tehran “will pay for it”.
Both Nasrallah’s death and the invasion of southern Lebanon by Israeli forces served to expose the fragility of Iran’s strategy of trying to isolate Israel in order to destroy it.
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said this new Iranian attack was “ineffective”, however, he warned that the act was a “significant escalation” of tensions in the Middle East and that there would be consequences.
“This is a significant escalation by Iran, a significant event,” Sullivan said during a press conference at the White House. “We have made clear that there will be consequences, severe consequences, for this attack, and we will work with Israel to ensure that,” he said.
#factors #led #Iran #attack #Israel