Israel-Hamas war
Iran-linked militants have injured dozens of US soldiers and killed one, suggesting Tehran has a network of regional proxies
Thu Oct 26, 2023, 5:05pm BST
Islamist militias linked to Iran have continued to attack U.S. bases in Syria and Iraq, intensifying a campaign of violence that is stoking fears of a regional conflagration.
The attacks were claimed by groups that are either directly controlled by Tehran or share the ideology of other groups currently fighting Israel. On Thursday, a US base in Kharab al-Jir in Syria was attacked for the second time in two days, and a base in western Iraq was also hit.
More than a dozen small attacks on U.S. bases in the region left 24 U.S. soldiers injured and one civilian contractor dead. Washington is sending missile defense batteries to the region to protect its key bases and allies.
Charles Lister, director of the Syria and counterterrorism and extremism programs at the Middle East Institute in Washington, said: “Two dozen soldiers have now been injured in the US. Under other circumstances it would have reacted, but its hands are tied because it does not want to be held responsible for the escalation. The US government is very concerned that we are entering a regional crisis.
“The attacks demonstrate that Iran has an extensive network of well-armed, aggressive and well-coordinated proxies across the region that it has built precisely for this scenario. They’re currently testing redlines, but aren’t pushing it too hard. They put the responsibility on the US to respond.”
Joe Biden has already ordered two aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean and US officials are said to have urged Israel to hold off on a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip until new missile defense units reach their target.
The war between Israel and Hamas followed Hamas’ terrorist attacks in southern Israel, which killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians. According to Hamas-run health authorities in the enclave, 7,000 people have died in the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip so far.
Israel-Hamas War: Where do the surrounding countries stand?
Even without a ground offensive by Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip, the rising death toll there is likely to lead to further escalation.
An Iraq-based and Iran-backed group believed to be a front for the long-established Kateb Hezbollah released a statement last week threatening attacks on U.S. military bases in the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait threatened. Paramilitaries from militias in Iran-controlled Syria have been deployed near the Golan Heights in another threatening move.
On Wednesday, leaders of the three main Islamist extremist groups currently at war with Israel met in Beirut to discuss the conflict.
After the meeting in Lebanon, a brief statement said Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah agreed with Saleh al-Arouri of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Ziad al-Nakhleh, which the three of them agreed – together with other Iranian-backed militants – wanted to achieve “a real victory for the resistance in Gaza and Palestine” and an end to “Israel’s treacherous and brutal aggression against our oppressed and steadfast people in Gaza and the West Bank.”
Tobias Borck, senior researcher in Middle East security studies at London’s Royal United Services Institute, said Iran was “literally playing with fire.”
“What we are seeing is the next stage of the Gaza war. This is all carefully tailored to show solidarity. Iran says: We see the aircraft carriers, but we are not afraid and we can hurt you too. It’s incredibly dangerous,” Borck told the Guardian.
“Many people want to understand it as Tehran pulling the strings, but… actually they are partners who share a worldview and ideology. One element is to claim to be leading the resistance to a Western-imposed order in the region.”
The impression of a growing regional conflict was reinforced by Israeli airstrikes on the Syrian army’s infrastructure in response to missile attacks from Syria, an ally of Iran, last week. According to Syria’s state news agency, eight soldiers were killed in the attack near the southwestern city of Daraa.
The attack was followed by the firing of two rockets that triggered air raid sirens in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Israeli warplanes also bombed an airport in Aleppo, northern Syria. Experts said the move was likely aimed at cutting off supplies of ammunition and weapons from Iran to Hezbollah in Syria.
Since the day after the October 7 attacks, Hezbollah has been exchanging fire with Israeli troops on the Lebanon-Israel border.
Both sides appear to have tried to avoid escalation. An estimated 40 Hezbollah fighters have been killed in the clashes so far, while the Israeli military also reported some deaths within its ranks.
Israeli officials said they would retaliate aggressively in the event of a cross-border attack by Hezbollah from Lebanon, but fear the organization’s arsenal of about 150,000 rockets and missiles.
Both sides are trying to rule out any blame for further and greater hostilities from the outset.
The White House said Monday that the U.S. has noted “an increase in missile and drone attacks by Iranian-backed proxy groups on military bases housing U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria” and is “deeply concerned about the possibility.” a significant escalation of these attacks “are attacks in the coming days”.
Last week, a US warship in the northern Red Sea intercepted missiles fired by Iran-backed Houthi rebels from Yemen, possibly at Israel.
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