There have been three new military actions by the Israel’s against Iranian or their proxies in the region ….
Attacks against Iranian-allied forces in three countries, all blamed on Israel, escalated tensions across the Middle East on Sunday, drawing threats of retaliation and intensifying fears that a bigger conflict could erupt.
The attacks Saturday and Sunday targeted Iranian forces and their proxies in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, in what appeared to be a significant escalation of Israeli efforts to contain the expansion of Iranian influence in the region that could jeopardize the continued presence of U.S. troops in Iraq and draw Lebanon into a new war.
All of the attacks were shrouded in the mystery that engulfs much of the shadowy conflict between Israel and Iran. Israel confirmed that it was responsible only for the first attack, in which its warplanes struck overnight Saturday on what military officials said was an Iranian-operated base in Syria preparing to launch a major drone attack against Israel. At least two members of the Lebanese Hezbollah militia were killed, Hezbollah said.
Hours later, a drone armed with explosives hit a building housing a Hezbollah media center in the southern suburbs of Beirut. Hezbollah accused Israel in what would be the first Israeli attack in Lebanon since the 2006 war and said it would respond by shooting down Israeli drones in Lebanon. Israel did not confirm or deny responsibility.
Later Sunday a commander with an Iranian-backed militia in Iraq was killed by a drone strike in the western Iraqi town of al-Qaim, compounding tensions raised by a recent series of strikes apparently conducted by Israel against Iranian-backed militias in Iraq.
Any one of these incidents would have marked an escalation in a steadily intensifying confrontation between Israel and the Iranian-backed militias that have expanded their reach across the Middle East in recent years. Taken together, they signal a “new era” in Israel’s attempt to roll back Iran’s presence in the region, said Hilal Khashan, a professor of political science at the American University of Beirut…
Note…
Is it a coincidence that America has adopted a hardline against Iran as the European try to hold Obama’s nuclear peace deal together and Trump doesn’t…
An exchange of fire erupted across Israel’s northern border Sunday in a dramatic escalation of regional tensions, after Hezbollah militants apparently fired antitank missiles from Lebanon toward an Israeli military base.
Israel responded to the attack with heavy fire at targets in southern Lebanon, an Israeli army spokesman told reporters. Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said Israel struck back with about artillery 100 shells.
Hezbollah said Sunday that two of its brigades had struck and destroyed an Israeli military vehicle near the border. Conricus said the Israeli targets that were hit were part of a regional command center in northern Israel and a clearly marked military ambulance. There were no Israeli casualties.
The exchange followed a week of rising tensions between the two countries over the role of Iran and Hezbollah, an Iran-affiliated group that Israel considers a terrorist organization, on Israel’s northern border…
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