Seth J. Frantzman
Jerusalem Post, June 26, 2024
“Overall, the pattern is clear. Iran is operationalizing these multiple fronts against Israel. In some areas, the groups claim success; in others, it is unclear if the claims match reality. For Iran, the claims are what matters. They want to show they are backing Hamas in Gaza.”
Iranian proxies, including the Houthis, Iraqi militias, and Hezbollah carried out attacks targeting Israel and Israel-linked targets on June 24-25. However, the attacks are no longer a surprise. In some cases, the proxies have had some successes. However, their successes may have diminishing returns because Iran is now using all these groups to attack, but Iran cannot shift the equation against Israel.
Let’s take a look at what happened. The Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, which are called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, said on Wednesday that they “attacked a vital Israeli target in the Port of Eilat with several drones.” The militias claimed that they were supporting Hamas in Gaza. “The Iraqi resistance fighters targeted the military air base of the Israeli regime in Eilat with a drone,” the statement from the group reads. They sent the statement to Iran’s state media, IRNA.
The IDF said “following the siren that sounded regarding a hostile aircraft infiltration in the area of Eilat, over the past hour a UAV that was identified approaching Israeli territory from the area of the Red Sea fell off the coast of Eilat. The UAV was monitored by IDF soldiers throughout the incident, and it did not cross into Israeli territory. During the incident, an interceptor was launched toward the UAV. The sirens regarding a hostile aircraft infiltration were activated in accordance with protocol.” … [To read the full article, click here]