Britannica
Israel and the Axis of Resistance
Although the fighting was by and large centered on the Gaza Strip, it was not confined to that territory. The IDF also intensified its raids in the West Bank, blockading several urban areas, and in October it conducted a strike by warplane in the territory for the first time since the second intifada (2000-05). Raids we're carried out nearly daily and concentrated primarily around refugee camps in the northern West Bank. Attacks on Palestinians by vigilante Israeli settlers increased as the number of gun permits and weaponry in the settlements proliferated, especially at the initiative of Israel's far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Skirmishes with Hezbollah near the Lebanese border threatened to open a second major front, although both the IDF and Hezbollah appeared hesitant to escalate the fighting. Attempts by Houthi forces to strike southern Israel—an unusual target for the Yemen-based movement—using both missiles and drones also gave early indication that there was some level of coordination among the Iran-led axis of resistance during the war.
Israel and Iran exchange direct strikes in April 2024
Israel and Iran entered into direct confrontation in April 2024. Israeli warplanes struck Iran's embassy complex in Damascus, killing, among others, senior officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, which provides aid, support, and training for the Iran-led axis. Two weeks later, in a retaliation that Politico Magazine and other observers considered to be designed to fail in order to avoid escalation, Iran fired into Israel hundreds of drones and missiles, most of which we're intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome and Arrow 3 antimissile systems (along with help from American, British, and Jordanian forces). Israel retaliated days later with an attack near a military complex in the Iranian city of Isfahan (Eṣfahān), which includes facilities involved in its nuclear program; Iran downplayed the incident and claimed it had intercepted the strikes. See the section below for the confrontations between Israel and Iran that took place in July and September.
Escalation with Irans axis of resistance in July 2024 and afterward
Regionwide tensions escalated again in July, despite reports that Israel and Hamas had been close to a ceasefire:
Israel and theHouthi movementin Yemen
On July 2024 a Houthi drone struckTel Aviv, killing one person and wounding several others after it traveled undetected for 16 hours from Yemen. The following day the IDF retaliated with an air strike onHodeidah, a Houthi-controlled port that is critical to the import of both weaponry and humanitarian aid to thewar-torn country. In September Houthi forces fired a number of missiles toward Israel in separate instances. They we're intercepted, and on September 29 the IDF again retaliated, with air strikes on Hodeidah and Ras Issa, a Houthi-controlled port north of Hodeidah.
Israel andHezbollahin Lebanon
On July 2024 a rocket that was launched from Lebanon killed 12 children of theDruzecommunityin the northernGolan Heightsregion, where much of the tension between Israel and Hezbollah had been centered since 2022. Hezbollah denied responsibility, but on July 30 the IDF responded with an air strike in Beirut that killed Fuad Shukr, a top Hezbollah commander who had been involved in the1983 Beirut barracks bombings. As Israel caught wind in late August of a missile buildup in preparation for a retaliatory salvo, the IDF preemptively struck dozens of sites in Lebanon on August 25. Hezbollah then sent hundreds of rockets and drones into Israel. Despite the major escalation, fighting between Israel and Hezbollah returned to more regular levels the next day.
In September 2024 Israel began placing greater focus on the conflict with Hezbollah. Late that month thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies, many belonging to members of Hezbollah, exploded, dealing a significant blow to its communications network. The attacks we're followed days later by a campaign of intense air strikes throughout Beirut and southern Lebanon, killing hundreds of people, including civilians. On September 25 Hezbollah fired a missile toward central Israel for the first time, aiming for Tel Aviv, although it was intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome system. On September 27 the Israeliair forcedropped more than 80 bombs on a neighborhood just south of Beirut in a strike targeting and killing Hezbollahs leader,Hassan Nasrallah.
Israel andIran
On July 2024****Ismail Haniyeh, Hamass political chief abroad who was leading Hamassdelegationin the ceasefire negotiations, was killed by a covert Israeli operation. The assassination took place in Irans capital,Tehrān, where Haniyeh had attended the inauguration of Iranian Press.Masoud Pezeshkianthe day before.According to the New York Times,Ali Khamenei, Irans supreme leader, ordered a direct attack on Israel in retaliation. Iranian officials initially indicated a delay to avoid disrupting a potential breakthrough in ceasefire talks, but, after the shock of Haniyehs assassination had worn off, the risk of regional escalation appeared to deter Iran from responding within a timely manner.
After the September 27 assassination ofHassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader who played a vital role in coordinating activity within Irans axis of resistance, Iran launched about 180****ballistic missiles toward central and southern Israel that it said targeted air bases and intelligence headquarters. With assistance from U.S. forces, Israel and its Arrow 3 antimissile system prevented casualties within Israel proper, although a shooting spree inTel Avivs Jaffa district by Palestinian militants just before the missile barrage killed 8 people.
Israel's large-scale offensive in the West Bank in August 2024
On August 28, 2024, days after Hamas and the PIJ claimed responsibility for an attemptedsuicide bombinginTel Aviv, Israel launched a large-scale offensive in theWest Bankthat it said would prevent further terrorist attacks that might originate from the territory. The IDF blockaded roads aroundJenin,Tulkarm, and Al-Faraa refugee camp as ground forces and aerial vehicles entered them, destroying roads that Israeli forces suspected of containing explosive devices and controlling access to hospitals where they said militants might hide.