Iran and the proxy terrorist groups it backs in Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon, and Gaza continued their multi-front war on Israel this week - a week that has seen Israel increase its operations in Lebanon.
Despite the IDF carrying out daily airstrikes targeting Hezbollah command and control centers, Hezbollah has continued to fire hundreds of rockets a day at Israel and has begun fighting the IDF in southern Lebanon.
Iranian state media highlighted claims that three IDF soldiers were wounded on October 9 by Hezbollah. This is part of Iran’s attempt to portray Hezbollah as an organized and strong fighting force; despite its losses. Iran’s state media also said Hezbollah had targeted Haifa and targeted a gas platform off the coast on October 9.
Iran's new President Masoud Pezeshkian continued to share Iran's narrative on events, slamming Israel in statements. This week, he bashed the US and Europe for supporting Israel’s “savage Zionist regime.” Iran’s foreign minister has also warned Israel against any retaliation for Iran’s ballistic missile attack on October 1.
Adding to Hezbollah's attacks, the Iranian-backed militias in Iraq carried out new drone attacks on Israel. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which is an umbrella group of militias that have been attacking Israel, said they targeted Eilat overnight between October 9 and 10, and claimed they carried out a separate drone attack on October 9.
Israel has said over the last few days that it has intercepted drone threats from the “east,” which is the wording usually used to refer to drones flying from Iraq.
Meanwhile, on the Syrian front, Iranian state media claimed that there were “explosions” in the Mezzeh neighborhood of Damascus. Iranian media claimed Syrian air defense was active during the incident, which has been blamed on Israel. In another incident in Syria, the Iranian media also claimed that a “blast” was heard at a US base in eastern Syria. This has been ascribed to an attack by Iranian-backed groups, which have also targeted US forces more than a hundred times over the past year in Iraq and Syria.
Russia's growing involvement in Lebanon
In another report that appears to have potential significance, Israel’s Kan has claimed, based on various reports, that Russia is deepening its involvement in Lebanon, and this could benefit Hezbollah. The report quotes a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, who said, “Despite the massive attacks with significant damage to civilians, we estimate that Hezbollah has maintained its ability to function, including the military. The chain of command continues to function."
In addition, the report noted that “it seems that Russia's quiet involvement in the war in Israel is becoming more and more significant. In addition to the Lebanese report about the transfer of UAVs to Hezbollah, two weeks ago, it was reported in the Reuters news agency that Russia is conducting negotiations for the transfer of anti-ship missiles to the Houthi rebels in Yemen through Iranian mediation.”
Empowering Iran's proxies
These two aspects of the Russia-Iran alliance appear to be important. If Moscow gets more involved in Lebanon or Yemen, this could increase the power of two of Iran’s proxies in the region and also benefit two fronts of the Iranian octopus-like war on Israel.
Israel faces Iranian-backed attacks from Gaza, the West Bank, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, the Iraqi militias, as well as Iranian-backed militias in Syria, and attacks directly from Iran. In addition, recent terror attacks in Israel, in Tel Aviv, Beersheba, and Hadera, point to a rising possible eight front of the conflict as Iran seeks to mobilize attacks even within Israel by radicalizing Israeli Arab citizens.