Iran-Israel Proxy Conflict

Subterms

    Latest story

    88 Shares88 Views

    Israel’s Military Says It Struck Beirut’s Suburbs

    by

    The attack was the second in less than a week, raising fears that a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah could unravel.The Israeli military said early Tuesday that it had conducted a strike on the southern outskirts of Beirut, the second attack near Lebanon’s capital in less than a week.Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a cease-fire in November, raising hopes that Lebanon’s deadliest war in decades could be over. But the recent strikes have prompted fears that the truce could unravel.The Israeli military said the latest strike, in the Dahiya area in Beirut’s southern suburbs, had targeted a Hezbollah operative who had directed and assisted Hamas in planning a “significant and imminent” attack against Israel.Israel acted to eliminate the operative because he posed an “immediate threat,” the military said on social media. It added that the Dahiya area was a key stronghold for Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group and political party backed by Iran.Hezbollah made no immediate comment on the strikes on its semiofficial page on Telegram, a social media platform.On Friday, the Israeli military launched airstrikes in the same area, and ordered residents in a densely populated neighborhood to evacuate. The attack was hours after rockets were fired at northern Israel from Lebanese territory.Hezbollah denied any involvement in that attack on Israel and said it remained committed to the cease-fire. The Israeli military said it had targeted a site that stored Hezbollah’s drones.Also on Friday, at least three people were killed in separate Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.Hezbollah began firing rockets and drones at Israeli positions, in solidarity with its Palestinian ally, after Hamas led an attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, igniting the war in Gaza. The fighting escalated into full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah, with an Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon. More

    More stories

    • 88 Shares140 Views

      in Elections

      Rockets Fired From Lebanon Prompt Israeli Strikes

      by

      The volley broke months of relative quiet in northern Israel after a U.S.-backed truce. Israel retaliated by attacking sites it said were linked to Hezbollah.Israeli forces struck sites in southern Lebanon on Saturday that it said were linked to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, hours after rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel for the first time in months.The attacks were the latest example of how the renewed Israeli offensive in Gaza was rippling across the Middle East. They also disrupted months of relative calm in northern Israel, where residents displaced by more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah have begun returning home.The Israeli military said that it had shot down three rockets from Lebanon, and there were no reports of casualties. The volley was the first of its kind since last November, when Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a cease-fire brokered by the United States and France.Hezbollah denied any involvement in the rocket fire, which followed Israel’s resumed offensive in Gaza this week against the Lebanese group’s Palestinian ally Hamas. Those Israeli attacks have already killed more than 600 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.After the Hamas-led assault on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which ignited the Gaza war, the militant group’s allies across the Middle East began attacking Israel in solidarity. Last year, that escalated to a full-blown war between Israel and Hezbollah, in which Israel assassinated Hezbollah’s leadership and launched a ground invasion into southern Lebanon.Under the terms of the cease-fire, the Lebanese government is supposed to prevent armed groups like Hezbollah from attacking Israel from Lebanon.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 125 Shares179 Views

      in Elections

      Stunned Iranian Officials Try to Distance Their Country From Assad

      by

      Iranians watched in astonishment over the weekend as the reign of their nation’s longtime political and military ally, Bashar al-Assad, came to a crashing end. By Sunday, the reckoning had arrived as officials and pundits recognized that Iran was taken by surprise, and they hurried to distance Iran from a tyrant the country had supported in maintaining power.Iranian leaders and military commanders said in public statements that it was up to Syrians to decide what kind of government should replace Mr. al-Assad, who resigned and fled Syria on Sunday after rebel forces stormed the country’s capital.“It is the Syrian people who must decide on the future of their country and its political and governmental system,” said President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran in a meeting with his cabinet on Sunday, according to state media outlets. He added that Syrians must be free to do so without violence and foreign meddling.It was yet another remarkable turnabout for Iran after withdrawing its military forces on Friday when the collapse of Mr. al-Assad’s government became inevitable.State television channels candidly discussed Iran’s policies, with officials and pundits admitting that Iran had misjudged the regional dynamics and officials had overlooked Mr. al-Assad’s unpopularity among Syrians, which also reflected Iran’s lack of support there.Hatef Salehi, an analyst who supports Iran’s government, said in a live town hall discussion on the audio chat app Clubhouse that “the most important lesson of Syria for the Islamic Republic is that no government can last without the support of the people.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 125 Shares199 Views

      in Elections

      Syria’s Rebels Struck When Assad’s Allies Were Weakened and Distracted

      by

      Diminished support for the Syrian government from Iran, Hezbollah and Russia enabled opposition forces to take the initiative and seize new territory.For years, President Bashar al-Assad of Syria was able to beat back opposition fighters with the help of Russia, Iran and Hezbollah. Now, with those allies weakened or distracted by their own conflicts, rebels have seized the opportunity to shift the balance of power.The rebel fighters spent months training and preparing for a surprise offensive, but even they may not have predicted how quickly they would advance. On Saturday, the rebels said they had captured almost all of Aleppo, one of Syria’s biggest cities, and they now control a broad stretch of land in the west and northwest of the country, according to the rebels and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based war monitor.The timing of the assault and its success, analysts say, reveal the vulnerabilities of Mr. al-Assad’s once formidable coalition.The Syrian civil war started 13 years ago when peaceful anti-government protests were met with brutal crackdowns, escalating into a conflict between forces loyal to Mr. al-Assad and rebels. Over time, the combatants drew support and foreign fighters from regional and international powers.Iran, Hezbollah and Russia all sent help to the Syrian military. Hezbollah and Iranian-backed fighters battled alongside Syrian forces, Russia and Iran sent military advisers, and Russia carried out intense airstrikes on rebel-held territory.But today, Iran has been weakened by Israeli airstrikes, battlefield losses by its proxy forces — the so-called axis of resistance — and an economic crisis at home. Hezbollah, one of those proxy forces, has been battered and diminished after 13 months of war with Israel and the killing of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah. And Russia is now nearing the end of its third year of a war of attrition with Ukraine.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 113 Shares119 Views

      in Elections

      Rebels Seize Control Over Most of Syria’s Largest City

      by

      The rapid advance on Aleppo came just four days into a surprise rebel offensive that is the most intense escalation in years in the country’s civil war.Rebels had seized most of Syria’s largest city, Aleppo, on Saturday, according to a war monitoring group and to fighters who were combing the streets in search of any remaining pockets of government forces.The rebels said they had faced little resistance on the ground in Aleppo. But Syrian government warplanes responded with airstrikes on the city for the first time since 2016, according to the war monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.The city of Aleppo came to a near standstill on Saturday, with many residents staying indoors for fear of what the sudden flip in control might mean, witnesses said. Others did venture out into quiet streets, welcoming the antigovernment fighters and hugging them. Some of the rebels tried to reassure city residents and sent out at least one van to distribute bread.The rapid advance on Aleppo came just four days into a surprise rebel offensive launched on Wednesday against the autocratic regime of President Bashar al-Assad. The development is both the most serious challenge to Mr. al-Assad’s rule and the most intense escalation in years in a civil war that had been mostly dormant.The timing of the assault has raised questions about whether the rebels are exploiting weaknesses across an alliance that has Iran at the center and includes groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon as well as the Syrian regime.In Aleppo on Saturday, well-armed rebel fighters dressed in camouflage patrolled streets still lined with the ubiquitous posters of Mr. al-Assad. The opposition forces said that although they were in control of nearly the entire city, they had not yet solidified their hold on it. More

    • 113 Shares119 Views

      in Elections

      Israel-Hezbollah Cease-Fire Rests on a Wobbly Linchpin: Lebanon’s Army

      by

      The Lebanese Army is tasked with ensuring that Hezbollah abides by the cease-fire. It has failed at that task before.The fragile peace between Israel and Hezbollah largely hangs on 10,000 soldiers in the Lebanese Army.The last time it was tasked with enforcing a cease-fire, it plainly failed.The current cease-fire, which came into effect on Wednesday, calls for a 60-day truce between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, during which time Israeli forces gradually withdraw from Lebanon, and Hezbollah moves away from Lebanon’s border with Israel.To ensure Hezbollah’s retreat, the agreement relies heavily upon the Lebanese Army, a national military strained under competing priorities and sectarian complexities that has long proved unable — or unwilling — to rein in Hezbollah.In a new buffer zone along the border — a strip of land ranging from a few miles to 18 miles wide — the Lebanese Army is responsible for destroying all Hezbollah military infrastructure, confiscating any unauthorized weapons and blocking the transfer or production of arms. United Nations peacekeeping forces will sometimes accompany the Lebanese soldiers in a supporting role. On Wednesday, the army began deploying more soldiers to the region.But that approach has been tried before — and it did not work.The Israel-Hezbollah cease-fire that ended the 2006 Lebanon War, known as Resolution 1701, also called on the Lebanese Army to keep Hezbollah away from the border, with U.N. peacekeepers assisting. Years later, Hezbollah emerged even stronger than before, with extensive weaponry, infrastructure and tunnels across the border region.Yet despite those past failures, the international community is once again banking on the Lebanese Army. In recent months, the United States and other nations revived an effort to train, equip and fund Lebanese forces.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 75 Shares169 Views

      in Elections

      The Israel-Hezbollah Cease-Fire: What to Know

      by

      Under the agreement, Israel will gradually withdraw its forces from Lebanon over the next 60 days, and Hezbollah will not entrench itself near the Israeli border.A cease-fire meant to end the deadliest war in decades between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah officially took effect early Wednesday, less than a day after President Biden announced the deal and Israel approved its terms.Thousands of Lebanese began to return to their homes in the first hours of the cease-fire. The fighting has killed thousands in Lebanon and around 100 Israeli civilians and soldiers. The conflict has also displaced about one million people in Lebanon, in addition to doing vast physical damage there, and about 60,000 people in Israel.Lebanon’s government agreed on Wednesday morning to the deal. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu endorsed it on Tuesday night and argued that a truce would allow Israel to rebuild its weapon stockpiles while it works to isolate Hamas, the Hezbollah ally that Israel is fighting in Gaza.Here’s what you need to know:A 60-day truceHow will it be enforced?What are the obstacles to a permanent deal?Why did the sides agree to stop fighting?How did we get here?A 60-day truceThe agreement, mediated by American and French diplomats, calls for Israel and Hezbollah to observe a 60-day truce.During that period, Israel would withdraw its forces gradually from southern Lebanon.Hezbollah forces would move north away from the Israeli border and the Lebanese military will send more troops to Lebanon’s south.The withdrawals would effectively create a buffer zone between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, along the Israeli border.If the truce holds though the 60-day period, negotiators hope the agreement will become permanent.How will it be enforced?Under the terms of the deal, a U.N. peacekeeping force, along with the Lebanese Army, will keep the peace in the border zone, as envisioned in a 2006 United Nations Security Council resolution that ended the previous Israel-Hezbollah war but that was never fully carried out.The cease-fire will be overseen by several countries, including the United States and France, as well as by the United Nations.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 75 Shares179 Views

      in Elections

      Israel Conducts Widespread Strikes Near Beirut

      by

      As negotiators inch toward a cease-fire deal, the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon has intensified.The Israeli military late on Sunday conducted a heavy barrage of airstrikes on the southern outskirts of Beirut where Hezbollah holds sway, with fighter jets racing across the skies above the Lebanese capital and deafening explosions ringing out for miles.Lebanon’s state-run news agency described the bombardment as a “ring of fire,” with thick, black plumes of smoke seen rising above the city’s skyline.The airstrikes followed a series of sweeping evacuation warnings on Sunday by the Israeli military for the area, known as the Dahiya — more warnings than in any other day this month. They also came as Hezbollah fired about 250 projectiles into Israel on Sunday, one of the group’s largest aerial attacks over the past year.Analysts said that Israel’s ramped up attacks in recent days were intended to pressure Hezbollah into accepting a cease-fire on favorable terms. Hezbollah, however, has shown few signs of backing down, and both sides have pledged to keep up their attacks while negotiations are taking place.There were no immediate reports of casualties from Israel’s strikes late on Sunday. The Dahiya, once a bustling cluster of neighborhoods that are home to hundreds of thousands of people, has been almost entirely emptied in recent weeks because of intense airstrikes.The Israeli military said in a statement late on Sunday that it had struck 12 “command centers” in the Dahiya that it described as belonging to Hezbollah.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 113 Shares169 Views

      in Elections

      Hezbollah’s Rockets Remain a Threat Despite Israel’s Crushing Offensive

      by

      Israel’s failure to tamp down the short-range rocket threat has put pressure on its government to embrace a cease-fire.Hezbollah has suffered crushing setbacks in Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon and cross-border incursion.The Israeli operation has succeeded beyond U.S. officials’ expectations: Israel has severely diminished Hezbollah’s ability to strike deep into the country and significantly weakened its political and military leadership.But Israel has failed to eliminate the short-range rockets that the Lebanese militia fires into the northern half of the country, according to U.S. officials. As long as the rocket fire continues, Israel’s campaign is unable to fulfill one of its main goals — securing northern Israel so that tens of thousands of residents can return home there.Hezbollah began rocket strikes on northern Israel in support of its ally Hamas in Gaza after Hamas attacked Israel last October. Israel launched its offensive against Hezbollah, at least in part, because of political pressure from Israelis who were evacuated.Now, Israel’s failure to tamp down the short-range rocket threat has put pressure on its government to embrace a cease-fire and at least a temporary halt to hostilities.While the Biden administration has struggled to reach a cease-fire deal between Hamas and Israel in Gaza, officials familiar with the negotiations with Hezbollah say there is a realistic chance for a deal covering Lebanon. Amos Hochstein, a White House envoy, arrived in Beirut on Tuesday to try to finalize some of the details and said this was “a moment of decision-making.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More