Proxy conflict between Iran and Israel over Arab states’ territories

Eslam Mohamed

Iran and its terrorist arms suffered heavy casualties during hundreds of airstrikes in Syria, believed to be carried out by Israel. After Iran transferred its weight to Iraq, Israeli hands followed to prevent it from establishing ballistic missile bases capable of hitting Israel from inside Iraq.

“Two years ago, Israel was the only country in the world to kill Iranians,” Israeli Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi said in an interview. “We bombed the Iranians hundreds of times in Syria.”

“The Iranians have very limited responses, not because they don’t have the capabilities, but because they understand that Israel is serious about it,” he added.

Yesterday, Netanyahu said on Twitter: “We thwarted an attack against Israel, which was planned by the Iranian Quds Force and Shiite militias.”

“Iran does not enjoy any immunity anywhere. Our forces are working on all fronts against Iranian aggression. Whoever intends to kill you, kill him first,” Netanyahu added.

Israel attacked missiles targets in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon, and media sources reported the deaths of Iranian militias as a result of the Israeli shelling that targeted locations in the southwestern countryside near the Syrian-Lebanese triangle with the Golan, areas in the countryside of Daraa and Quneitra, the southern suburb of Beirut, and a military site belonging to the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq’s Salahuddin province.

For his part, journalist Osama al-Hitimi, an expert on Iranian affairs, said there is no doubt that the recent developments of the Israeli attacks on Iranian loyalists in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq are very serious developments, especially as they coincide with the severe tension between Iran and the United States. This leads some to say that there is an increased possibility of proxy war between both sides.

Hitimi said that it is logically inconsistent that Iran and its loyalists remain silent with all the Israeli violations against them recently, while at the same time statements made by Iranian officials and leaders of Shiite militias talk about their ability to destroy Israel within a few minutes and that they are fully prepared to respond to any aggression.

He added, however, that there are many considerations that must be considered before decisive talk about the possibility of such a war. This may explain the state of artificial patience shown by Iran, as expressed by the secretary general of the Lebanese Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, through statements issued after the Israeli attacks, which confirms the apparent contradiction between the Iranian statements and the constructive statements that Nasrallah repeats about having the ability to destroy Israel. If this is true, Hezbollah and Iran, whose forces have been directly and repeatedly attacked by Israeli forces in Syria, will not be delayed, which has not been seen on the ground.

It is in this context that Hitimi believes that Iran and Hezbollah, which cannot take an escalatory approach with Israel without returning to Tehran, are intensively discussing a limited and calculated response to the Israeli attacks, without this response causing the outbreak of an all-out war that neither Iran nor Hezbollah can fight now.

On the other hand, it is not possible to say with certainty whether Israel desires to enter into such a war, especially as the existence of Iran currently gives Israel strength in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Therefore, Israel is doing nothing more than being part of a US plan to test Iran as a result of the skirmishes between them in recent months. Secondly, it is part of the propaganda of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to say to his supporters that Israel is strong and can undermine anyone who threatens its security.