Iran has historically relied on proxy forces to attack Israel, but last weekend it launched direct strikes from its territory for the first time.
A decades-long shadow war between Iran and Israel has been thrust into broad daylight.
For years, the two bitter foes have relied on strikes in other countries, covert assassinations, and proxy forces to trade blows as part of a simmering — but deadly — conflict. Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel last weekend has notably changed the dynamics of this conflict, and it’s now more dangerous.
A senior US defense official told reporters on Sunday that „it was the first-ever direct attack on Israel from Iranian soil,“ calling the barrage „reckless“ and warning that it „risks dragging the region into broader conflict.“
The fierce animosity between Iran and Israel can be traced back to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which ushered in a theocratic regime in Tehran that has long opposed Israel’s existence and has vowed to ultimately destroy the state.
Iran over the years has supported, funded, and armed proxy forces across the Middle East, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and has relied on them to attack Israeli interests. This has essentially allowed Tehran to strike at Israel indirectly.
Israel, on the other hand, has carried out airstrikes against Iranian assets abroad, including in Iraq and Syria, in an attempt to limit Tehran’s ability to funnel lethal weaponry across the Middle East to its proxy forces, especially those close to Israel’s borders.
Jonathan Lord, formerly a political military analyst at the Pentagon, told Business Insider Israel has found limited tactical success in this space, „so over time, those strikes have become more public and less covert, and certainly, we’ve sort of seen that grow and grow.
