An Israeli reserve brigade completed an exercise to prepare for conflict in the north. Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets at Israel on September 8, and the group claimed to be responding to an IDF strike on a village in southern Lebanon. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi visited northern Israel and met with the commander of an IDF division in the Golan on September 6.
The Israel Defense Forces’ 162nd Division eliminated 200 terrorists in battles near Rafah and the Philadelphi Corridor in southern Gaza during the last week of August. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep control of the key area to prevent Hamas from re-arming.
Hezbollah launched more than 100 rockets targeting Israel on September 4, the largest barrage in almost two weeks. The group has continued its daily attacks against northern Israel amid reports that the Israeli government is in talks with the US about seeking to reduce tensions. In addition, the Italian chief of the defense staff, Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, visited Israel on September 4 for meetings with IDF counterparts.
The IDF’s Gaza Division, which faced the brunt of Hamas’s attack on October 7 and will play a key role in the future security of the border, received a new commander on September 2. The IDF’s head of Ground Forces resigned on September 3. The leadership changes come as Israel intends to maintain control over the Philadelphi Corridor.
As soon as the Islamic Republic of Iran was established, it effectively declared war on Israel and the West. International appeasement of Iran has failed, and the current crisis in the Middle East has clarified that a more forceful Western policy is required now to forestall a more dangerous confrontation a few years later.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant held a strategic discussion with IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi on August 29 and discussed the need to return Israeli citizens to their homes in northern Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to northern Israel on August 28 and said the nation must restore security and return residents to their homes. “This is a national goal of the highest order,” Netanyahu said.
The Israeli military launched an extensive operation in the West Bank on Tuesday aimed at degrading infrastructure established by terrorist groups in the territory.
The Israel Defense Forces rescued Qaid Farhan Alkadi, a hostage held in Gaza since the Hamas attack on October 7, from a tunnel in southern Gaza. Alkadi was flown by helicopter to an Israeli hospital in Beersheba, where he met members of his family and spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The IDF expanded operations in the outskirts of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza and said Israeli forces eliminated dozens of terrorists and found weapons and a tunnel. Hamas launched a rocket at central Israel on August 25, and Israel hit the launch site with an airstrike.
Israel is waging a campaign of targeted eliminations against members of various terrorist groups who are orchestrating violence in the West Bank.
Hezbollah launched a large barrage of rocket attacks on Israel in the early hours of August 25, but the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) acted preemptively to thwart the attack. “Approximately ninety percent of the targets struck were short-range rockets aimed at northern Israel,” the IDF said. Around 100 Israeli warplanes struck 270 targets. Hezbollah claimed it launched more than 300 rockets at Israel.
On August 21, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visited the Philadelphi Corridor in southern Gaza and met with commanders of the 162nd Division, which has been fighting Hamas in Rafah since May. Gallant said the Hamas Rafah Brigade has been defeated. The IDF continued to expand operations in Khan Younis and central Gaza, and one Israeli soldier was killed, the IDF said on August 23.
Hezbollah launched a rocket attack on the Golan Heights on August 21, firing more than 50 projectiles at the Israeli community of Katzrin and nearby areas. The rockets caused significant damage and one injury in the town of 8,000 residents. In addition, Hezbollah carried out numerous other attacks on northern Israel, part of a recent escalation by the Iranian-backed terrorist group.
The Islamic Republic has scaled back its rhetoric against Israel by exercising “strategic ambiguity” and “tactical retreat” while claiming that “time is on [Tehran’s] side.” Israel’s ongoing onslaught against Iran-backed groups in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon suggests otherwise.
On August 20, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced recovering the bodies of six hostages in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. In addition, Israeli forces found a tunnel in Gaza that stretches for more than a mile.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad took credit for a suicide bombing attack in Tel Aviv on Sunday evening. In the aftermath, Palestinian social media became rife with propaganda lauding the bomber and encouraging copycat attacks against Israeli civilians.
Hezbollah attacked northern Israel with rockets and drones on August 15, including firing around 20 rockets at the Shamir area. The IDF said a majority of the incoming threats were intercepted. Hezbollah described the attack as an increase in its range inside Israel, and the Iranian-backed terrorist group also continued to threaten broader attacks in retaliation for an IDF airstrike in Beirut in July.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) called on Palestinian civilians to evacuate several neighborhoods in southern Gaza after receiving continued rocket fire and detecting terrorist activity. Hamas attempted to target Tel Aviv with two long-range rockets on August 13. The IDF struck 30 targets in Gaza between August 10 and 11, and the continued fighting in southern Gaza comes amid Iran’s threats to target Israel in a broader attack.
Following the elimination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31, Hamas announced the selection of Yahya Sinwar as the group’s head on August 6.
Iran’s regime arrested dozens of intelligence officers who may have been responsible for the security breach that led to Haniyeh’s assassination. The IRGC’s sole control over the investigation into the incident and the regime’s contradictory reporting further demonstrate various parties are intentionally crafting differing narratives to deflect blame and avoid being seen as incompetent.
Despite Israel’s precision strike on a radar facility in Isfahan on April 19 and the recent assassination of Hamas Political Chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Iran remains undeterred from picking a fight with conventionally superior and even nuclear-armed states. For a regime that has perfected the art of proxy warfare, the Islamic Republic is increasingly seeing the political utility of overt and attributable conflict in the Middle East.
A speech by Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary general of Hezbollah, suggests Hezbollah intends to conduct painful retaliation for Fuad Shukur’s assassination but that the organization is still not interested in escalating to a full-scale conflict with Israel. When it comes, the retaliatory strike will likely aim to remain below the threshold that leads to the outbreak of war.
Hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets targeting the western Galilee on the evening of August 1. Iran and Hezbollah have vowed to retaliate against Israel for the killing of a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut and Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. The IDF continues to operate in Gaza, targeting Hamas operatives hiding in a school and a man the IDF accused of being a terrorist who used journalism work as a cover.
The Israel Defense Forces targeted a building in Beirut and eliminated senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr on July 30. In the early hours of July 31, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran. Israel did not take credit for the latter killing, but Iran and its proxies have blamed Israel and vowed to respond, and Israel is preparing for possible attacks.
Haniyeh represented Hamas in high-stakes negotiations and was one of the key public faces of the Palestinian terrorist group.
The Israeli military carried out an airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut Tuesday evening, killing Fuad Shukr, a top Lebanese Hezbollah commander.
The IDF’s 98th Division wrapped up a week-long battle in Khan Younis against Hamas. The division recovered the bodies of five hostages, and the IDF said it eliminated an estimated 150 terrorists. The week-long operation is one of several raids the IDF has launched since May to eliminate militants who returned to previously cleared areas.
Israel’s defense minister and chief of staff held meetings with IDF officials and officers in the IDF’s Northern Command to discuss plans for possible operations against Hezbollah after a Hezbollah rocket killed 12 civilians in Majdal Shams on July 27. Despite Hezbollah’s denials about the attack, the IDF presented new evidence of the trajectory of the rocket and its type on July 28. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to Israel to meet with the security cabinet to decide Israel’s next steps.
Rocket fire from Lebanon killed 12 Israeli civilians in the northern Druze town of Majdal Shams on July 27, and Israel cites evidence that Hezbollah is responsible, while the group issued a denial. Israel will undoubtedly retaliate, and a significant escalation in the conflict is likely.
Iran signed a new arms agreement with Armenia, seeking to increase its influence in the Caucuses and counter Israel-Azerbaijan military ties.