![]() | Parts of this article (those related to Israeli invasion and strikes in Lebanon, Iranian strikes on Israel) need to be updated.(October 2024) |
2024 Iran–Israel conflict | |||||||
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Part of the Iran–Israel proxy conflict and the Middle Eastern crisis (2023–present) | |||||||
![]() ![]() Above: Missile interceptions in Lower Galilee, Israel, during the October 2024 Iranian strikes against Israel. Below: An IDF F-35I Adir departs from a military base in Israel to attack Iran during the October 2024 Israeli strikes on Iran. | |||||||
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Units involved | |||||||
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Casualties and losses | |||||||
19 killed [a]
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In 2024, the Iran–Israel proxy conflict escalated to a series of direct confrontations between the two countries. On 1 April, Israel bombed an Iranian consulate complex in Damascus, Syria, killing multiple senior Iranian officials. [30] In response, Iran and its Axis of Resistance allies seized the Israeli-linked ship MSC Aries and launched strikes inside Israel on 13 April. [2] [31] Israel then carried out retaliatory strikes in Iran and Syria on 19 April. [32] [33]
The Israeli strikes were limited, and analysts say they signaled a desire to de-escalate. Iran did not respond to the attack, and tensions de-escalated back down to the proxy conflict. [34]
Other actors participated in the conflict as well. The United States, United Kingdom, France, and Jordan intercepted Iranian drones to defend Israel. [28] Syria shot down some Israeli interceptors, and Iranian proxies in the region also attacked Israel. [1] [2]
Tensions increased after the 31 July assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, [35] in Tehran, Iran. The killing of Haniyeh occurred a few hours after the 2024 Haret Hreik airstrike in Lebanon that assassinated Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr. Iran and Hezbollah pledged retaliation. [36] On 1 October 2024, Iran launched a series of missiles at Israel. Israel then carried out more retaliatory strikes against Iran on 25 October.
After the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the Government of Iran took a more critical stance on Israel, [37] and a proxy war emerged as Iran supported Lebanese Shia and Palestinian militants during the 1982 Lebanon War. [38] Iran began to gain power and influence with other Islamist countries and groups in the Middle East, [39] [40] collectively named the "Axis of Resistance". [41] The conflict evolved with Israeli attempts to stop the Iranian nuclear program and confrontations during the Syrian civil war. [42] [43]
On 7 October 2023, Hamas, a Palestinian militant group partially funded by Iran, launched an attack on Israel resulting in the deaths of almost 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, and the outbreak of the Gaza war. [44] Israel also skirmished with Iranian proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon. [45] After the attack, Israel began targeting Iranian and proxy troops in Syria more frequently as retaliation. [46] Fears of a regional war grew in the following months. [47]
On 25 December, Razi Mousavi, an Iranian commander, was killed in a targeted Israeli airstrike at his residence in Sayyidah Zaynab, 10 km (6 mi) south of Damascus, amid the Gaza war. Mousavi's assassination marked the highest-ranking killing of a senior Iranian military official since the targeted assassination of Qasem Soleimani, until the subsequent killing of Mohammad Reza Zahedi in 2024. [48] [49]
On 20 January 2024, Iranian general Sadegh Omidzadeh and four other Iranian officials (Ali Aghazadeh, Saeed Karimi, Hossein Mohammadi, and Mohammad Amin Samadi) [50] were killed during a meeting at a building in the Mezzeh district of Damascus. The Israeli airstrikes, as reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, resulted in the complete destruction of the building, leading to the death of at least 10 military personnel. [51]
On 1 April, Israel bombed the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria. The attack killed 16 people, including multiple Iranian officers and proxy fighters. Most notably, Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a commander for the Quds Force was killed in the airstrike. [15] Iranian officials in the building were allegedly meeting with Palestinian militant leaders at the time of the attack. [52]
Iran vowed to respond, and Western sources suspected it would directly attack Israel. [53] Israel began preparing in the days leading up to the attack, evacuating Israeli embassies and jamming GPS signals in the case of an aerial bombing. [54] [55] France deployed its navy to defend Israel. [7] Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates provided Israel with intelligence on the strikes. [9]
On 13 April 2024, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy took control of the Portuguese-registered and Madeira-flagged container ship MSC Aries in the Hormuz Strait where it was boarded by Iranian commandos in international waters off the coast of the United Arab Emirates via helicopter, [56] [57] then directed to Iranian territory for "violating maritime law". The ship is leased to the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) by Gortal Shipping, an affiliate of Zodiac Maritime, whose principal is Israeli. [58] Following the incident, Israel called on the European Union to sanction the IRGC. [59]
Early on 13 April, Hezbollah attacked northern Israel with around 40 rockets. Israel responded by bombing a Hezbollah weapons manufacturing site in Lebanon. [60] Al Jazeera said the attack was significant given the conflict, [61] and the Institute for the Study of War suggested the strikes were coordinated with Iran. [3]
Later, Iran and its proxies attacked Israel with about 300 drones and multiple ballistic missiles. [31] The Houthis, Islamic Resistance in Iraq, Badr Organization, and True Promise Corps also launched attacks on Israel under Iranian command. [3] [2] Syria shot down some Israeli interceptors. [1] The United States, United Kingdom, and Jordan intercepted over 100 Iranian drones. [6] [8] The attack caused minor damage to Nevatim Airbase, which remained operational. [62] [63] A 7-year-old Israeli Bedouin child was critically injured by a missile shrapnel, and 31 other civilians suffered minor injuries while rushing to shelters or due to anxiety. [64] [65] [66]
Israeli and U.S. officials conducted situational assessments that night. The United States said it would not participate in a retaliatory strike on Iran. Iran threatened that if Israel were to retaliate, directly or indirectly, it would strike back harder. [67] Israel said the attack warranted a response. [68] The United States warned Israel to exercise restraint, and the Israeli war cabinet argued over the scale of Israel's response. [69] Israel delayed plans to start an offensive in Rafah that week so it could determine a response. [70]
The war cabinet continued arguments over the Israeli response during the following week. The cabinet considered military and diplomatic options, with international pressure to de-escalate the situation influencing decisions. [71] On 18 April, it was reported that the United States would greenlight a Rafah offensive in exchange for no Israeli strike on Iran. [72] The U.S. and EU tightened sanctions on Iran. [73]
On the morning of 19 April, Israel retaliated against Iran. Israel attacked three targets in or near Isfahan International Airport, including a military base. One of the targets was a radar for the Natanz nuclear site. Iran claimed that its air defense shot down all Israeli projectiles and that the explosions were from air defense, but satellite images showed a damaged air defense battery and damage to the radar system. [74] [75] Israel did not comment or claim responsibility for any attack. In southern Syria, SAA bases were targeted, leading to material losses. [76] Explosions and fighter jets were also heard in Iraq, [32] and debris from an Israeli missile was found in central Iraq, suggesting Israel fired from there. [77]
Iranian state media downplayed the Israeli strike, and Iranian officials said there was no planned retaliation. [78] An anonymous source told CNN that direct state-to-state strikes were over. [79] Analysts said the attack and Iranian reaction showed that both sides wanted to de-escalate. [34]
On 31 July, Fuad Shukr, a senior Hezbollah commander was assassinated in an Israeli strike on Haret Hreik, in the suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut. [80] Iranian military adviser Milad Bedi and civilians were also killed in the strike. [81] The strike was retaliation for the Majdal Shams attack, which killed twelve children, that Israel claimed Shukr had ordered. [82]
Later that day, Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, was assassinated along with his personal bodyguard in the Iranian capital Tehran by an apparent Israeli attack. [35] Haniyeh was killed in his accommodation in a military-run guesthouse after attending the inauguration ceremony for Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian. [83]
After the attacks, Iran and Hezbollah pledged retaliation. [84] [36] According to Israeli reports, retaliatory attacks are likely to be launched by multiple members of the Axis of Resistance, including in Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq, Syria and Yemen, as similarly done in the coordinated attack on Israel in April 2024. [85] Many countries warned their citizens to leave Lebanon because of increasing war tensions. [86] [87]
The U.S. State Department has been trying to prevent an attack by working through diplomats to send the message to Iran that escalation of the conflict is not in their best interests, and that the U.S. will defend Israel from attacks. Other U.S. officials stated that the successful shoot-down in April relied on good military intelligence about what Iran was planning, but this time the military situation is more uncertain. [36] Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a message to Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei through Sergei Shoigu, the secretary of Russia's security council, to have a restrained response, and not to attack Israeli civilians. [88]
The United States military announced the deployment of an additional squadron of F-22 Raptors from the 1st Operations Group of the 1st Fighter Wing; [89] 4,000 marines and 12 ships were deployed to the region [b] as a part of Carrier Strike Group 9 in the Persian Gulf and three Wasp-class amphibious assault ships, [c] two destroyers [d] and the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit as a part of the USS Wasp amphibious ready group in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. [91] [92] The Carrier Strike Group 3 including USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) and an unspecified number of cruisers and destroyers along with Carrier Air Wing Nine was also deployed, sent from the Pacific Ocean. [89]
On 5 August 2024, NOTAMs were issued to warn pilots regarding the closure or restriction of the airspace of Iran and Jordan, a precaution related to a possible attack by Iran against Israel. [93] [94]
On 17 September, Israel adopted a new war goal; to return civilians displaced by Hezbollah back to their homes in northern Israel. [95] Later that day and the next, thousands of communications devices (including pagers and walkie-talkies) exploded simultaneously across Lebanon and Syria, with Israel aiming to attack Hezbollah members. The attack killed 42 people. [96] In response, Hezbollah launched rocket attacks on northern Israeli cities and towns, including Nazareth, on 22 September. [97] On 23 September, Israel killed two of Hezbollah top commanders, Ibrahim Aqil and Ahmed Wehbe in Dahieh, south of Beirut. [98]
On 23 September, Israel began a bombing campaign of southern Lebanon. The attacks killed over 700 people, [99] injured more than 5,000, [100] and displaced 500,000 Lebanese civilians. [101]
On 27 September 2024, Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, was assassinated in an Israeli airstrike in Dahieh. [102] [103] The strike took place while Hezbollah leaders were meeting at a headquarters located underground beneath residential buildings. [103] [104] The attack also killed Ali Karaki, the Commander of Hezbollah's Southern Front [103] and Abbas Nilforoushan, deputy commander of the IRGC and commander of the Quds Force in Lebanon. [105] Iran condemned the attack, and had internal debates on how to respond to Nasrallah's death. [106]
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On 1 October 2024, Iran launched around 200 missiles towards Israel in two waves.
On 26 October 2024, Israel began attacking Iran, with explosions heard near Imam Khomeini International Airport, Mashhad, Karaj, Kermanshah, Zanjan. [107] [108] [109] [110] [111] Explosions were also heard near Damascus, Syria. [112] [113]
On 31 October 2024, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ordered his military officials to prepare for a military response against Israel, with Iranian officials warning that the response to Israel's strikes will be 'harsh' and 'unimaginable'. [114]
On the same day, Israeli intelligence suggested that Iran prepared to respond to Israel's attack from within Iraqi territory. The Axios reported that the attack would consist of a large number of drones and ballistic missiles launched from Iraqi territory. [115]
In November 2024, Israeli news outlets began reporting that Israel may target the Islamic Resistance in Iraq for its campaign against Israel during its wars on Gaza and on Lebanon. Unnamed officials allegedly told outlets that satellites monitored the transfer of ballistic missiles and related equipment from Iran to Iraqi territory. [116]
On 19 November, Israel issued a letter to the UN Security Council asserting its right to self-defense against the Islamic Resistance in Iraq for its military campaign on Israel during its wars on Gaza and Lebanon. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani warned that the letter served as pretext for an attack on Iraq, aligning with Israel's efforts to expand the war in the region. [117] [118]
The Israeli security threat towards Iraq caused the Iraqi government to issue a statement that it would take all necessary diplomatic and military actions to protect its sovereignty. On 21 November, The Iraqi government requested an emergency session of the Arab League Council through the Iraqi Permanent Mission to the Arab League to address the Israeli threats against Iraq. The request highlighted Israel's threats in its letter to the UN Security Council, where it sought to expand its aggression in the region to Iraq. [119]
Kata'ib Hezbollah, also known as the Hezbollah Brigades, is a radical Iraqi Shia paramilitary group which is a part of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), staffing the 45th, 46th, and 47th Brigades. During the Iraq War (2003–11), the group fought against Coalition forces. It has been active in the War in Iraq (2013–2017) and the Syrian Civil War. The group was commanded by Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis until he was killed in a US drone attack in 2020. Thereafter, Abdul Aziz al-Muhammadawi became the new leader of the PMF. The group seeks to establish an Iran-aligned government in Iraq, expel American forces from the country, and advance the regional and international interests of Iran in Iraq and the region. The group is responsible for killing hundreds of U.S. soldiers and takes a central part in carrying out attacks against U.S. targets in Iraq and acts as part of the Axis of Resistance. Kata'ib Hezbollah has received extensive training, funding, logistic support, weapons, and intelligence from the IRGC's overseas military-intelligence service Quds Force.
The Axis of Resistance is an informal coalition of Iranian-supported militias and political organizations across the Middle East. Formed by Iran, it unites actors committed to countering the influence of the United States and Israel in the region.
Since the 1980s there has been an ongoing proxy conflict between Iran and Israel. Until 1979, motivated by the periphery doctrine, Imperial Iran and Israel had close relations, seeing Arab powers as a common threat. After the 1979 Islamic revolution, Iran cut off relations, but covert ties continued during the subsequent Iran–Iraq War. Iran trained and armed Hezbollah during Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon, and continued to back Shia militias throughout the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon. Even before 1979, Iranian Islamists had materially supported the Palestinians; after 1979 Iran attempted relations with the Palestine Liberation Organization, and later with Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas. Israel fought a war with Hezbollah in 2006.
Several incidents have taken place on the Israeli–Syrian ceasefire line during the Syrian Civil War, straining the relations between the countries. The incidents are considered a spillover of the Quneitra Governorate clashes since 2012 and later incidents between Syrian Army and the rebels, ongoing on the Syrian-controlled side of the Golan and the Golan Neutral Zone and the Hezbollah involvement in the Syrian Civil War. Through the incidents, which began in late 2012, as of mid-2014, one Israeli civilian was killed and at least 4 soldiers wounded; on the Syrian-controlled side, it is estimated that at least ten soldiers were killed, as well as two unidentified militants, who were identified near Ein Zivan on Golan Heights.
The January 2015 Mazraat Amal incident was an airstrike against a two-car convoy that killed six Hezbollah fighters, including two prominent commanders, and a general of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), Mohammad Ali Allahdadi, at al-Amal Farms in the Quneitra District of Syria, in the Eastern Golan Heights, on 18 January 2015, during the Syrian Civil War. The attack was largely attributed to Israel, which did not officially confirm that it carried it out. Hezbollah and IRGC held Israel responsible and threatened to retaliate. On 19 January 2015, Al-Nusra Front member Abu Azzam al-Idlibi claimed that Jihad Mughniyeh and the other Hezbollah fighters were killed in an Al-Nusra Front ambush at Jaroud in the Qalamoun Mountains in the Al-Qutayfah District northeast of Damascus, claiming that it "will be the end of the Persian project, God willing."
Mohammad Reza Zahedi was an Iranian military officer. A senior figure within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), he had previously commanded the IRGC Aerospace Force and the IRGC Ground Forces, and was commanding the Quds Force in Lebanon and Syria at the time of his death.
On 10 February 2018, an Israeli F-16I was shot down by the Syrian air defenses after conducting an air raid on Iran-backed positions inside Syrian territory. The aircraft was part of a larger Israeli aerial dispatch which Israel said was sent in response to detection of an Iranian drone spying on Israel. Two hours after the downing of the jet, Israel began attacking additional targets inside Syria, including air defense sites and Iranian targets near Damascus. Israel stated it destroyed the Syrian military's main command and control bunker. Iran dismissed the Israeli allegation of Iranian drone incursion into Israeli territory as "ridiculous".
The Iran–Israel conflict during the Syrian civil war refers to the Iranian–Israeli standoff in and around Syria during the Syrian conflict. With increasing Iranian involvement in Syria from 2011 onwards, the conflict shifted from a proxy war into a direct confrontation by early 2018.
The 2019 Israeli airstrikes in Iraq began as unidentified drone or aircraft bombings of the Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) bases in Iraq starting on 19 July 2019. The strikes targeted Iranian proxy groups, based in Iraq, as well as IRGC operatives.
A 14-month-long conflict between the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israel began on 8 October 2023, when Hezbollah launched rockets and artillery at Israeli positions following the 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel. The conflict escalated into a prolonged exchange of bombardments, leading to extensive displacement in Israel and Lebanon. The conflict, part of the broader Middle Eastern crisis that began with Hamas' attack, marked the largest escalation of the Hezbollah–Israel conflict since the 2006 Lebanon War.
Starting on 17 October 2023, and in response to United States support for Israel in the Gaza war, Iran-backed militias initiated a coordinated series of more than 170 attacks on US military bases and assets in Syria, Iraq, and Jordan. These attacks resulted in injuries to dozens of US service members. In retaliation, the US has launched multiple counterattacks, resulting in the death of over 30 militants including a senior commander of the Nujaba Movement, Mushtaq Talib al-Saidi. In February 2024, following US airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, militia attacks against US forces were halted.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq refers to an informal network of Iranian-backed Shia Islamist armed groups in Iraq. The name is used by members of the network when carrying out attacks against American forces or its allies in the region.
The Middle Eastern crisis is a series of interrelated wars, conflicts, and heightened instability in the Middle East that began in 2023 after the 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel. The 7 October attack came after a period of rising tensions and increased violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; the attack killed about 1,200 people in Israel and saw about 250 more taken hostage. Israel responded by declaring war and embarking on an intensive bombing campaign, and later invasion, of the Gaza Strip as a part of the war in Gaza that has so far killed over 46,000 Palestinians.
On 19 April 2024 at 5:23 a.m. IRST, the Israeli Air Force launched airstrikes targeting an air defense facility within Iran. The limited airstrikes targeted an air defense radar site at an airbase near Isfahan, in central Iran. Israeli missiles appear to have hit their target directly. Satellite images suggest that a surface-to-air missile battery was damaged or destroyed. There was no extensive damage to the base itself. The attack was launched in response to the Iranian drone and missile strikes in Israel, which itself was an Iranian retaliation for the Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
This timeline of the Israel–Hezbollah conflict covers the period from 24 November 2023, when the first ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began, until 1 January 2024, one day prior to the assassination of Saleh al-Arouri.
This timeline of the Israel–Hezbollah conflict covers the period from 2 January 2024, with the Assassination of Saleh al-Arouri, until 31 March 2024, one day prior to the Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
This timeline of the Israel–Hezbollah conflict covers the period from 1 April 2024, when Israel struck the Iranian consulate in Damascus, to 26 July 2024, one day before the Majdal Shams attack.
This timeline of the Israel–Hezbollah conflict covers the period from 27 July 2024, when a Hezbollah rocket struck a soccer field in Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, killing 12 children, to 16 September 2024, one day before the explosion of Hezbollah pagers and walkie talkies.
The spillover of the Gaza war in Syria is the impact and military engagements in Syria which are caused by the spillover of the Gaza war, and constitute a part of the ongoing Middle Eastern crisis. The conflict, originating in the Gaza Strip, has triggered regional tensions and violence, drawing Syria in through direct and indirect confrontations involving Israeli defense forces, Syrian state actors, and armed groups operating in Syrian territory.
Members of Iran's so-called "Axis of Resistance" appear to have conducted attacks targeting Israel simultaneously with Iran's first wave of attacks. Lebanese Hezbollah claimed it fired "dozens" of Katyusha rockets targeting an Israeli missile and artillery base in the Golan Heights at 1800 ET.
Hezbollah on Sunday said it had launched guided rockets and artillery onto three posts in the Shebaa Farms 'in solidarity' with the Palestinian people.
the current regional context makes the Hezbollah launches significant, but the location was important as well. ... The latest Hezbollah attack comes as the world anticipates an Iranian attack on Israel...
US says seeking to limit attacks and response, urges G7 allies to use diplomatic pressure to try to avert regional war.