Iran Militias in Iraq step up attacks on Israel in proxy battle away from spotlight

Iran-linked militias in Iraq have launched about 40 attacks involving missiles, drones or rockets on Israel in the past two and a half weeks, the latest escalation in a largely clandestine proxy battle fought across a swathe of the Middle East.

- Jason Burke

The attacks began in October last year when the war in Gaza started, but data compiled by the Washington Institute, a US-based thinktank, shows a sharp increase in their pace after Israel killed the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in an air-strike on 27 September.

Hezbollah, which was founded with Iranian sponsorship in Lebanon more than 40 years ago, is the keystone of the loose coalition of groups created by Iran over recent decades.

With Hamas weakened after a year of war in Gaza, and Hezbollah now reeling under a continuing Israeli air and ground offensive in Lebanon, Tehran has looked to more junior members of the rough coalition of factions it has supported across the Middle East to strike Israel.

“The number of missiles and drones being fired from Iraq [at Israel] has gone through the roof. They've moved into a higher gear to demonstrate their support for Hezbollah,” said Michael Knights, an analyst at the Washington Institute who follows the activities of militias based in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

The missile launches from Iraq underline Iran's strategy of using members of its “axis of resistance” to support one another against Israel, as well as competition between them.