Orientul Mijlociu

Jihadis From Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, And Yemen Amass In Multifront Threat To Israel

Since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, Iran and its regional proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, have joined in hostilities against Israel and the U.S. in a multifront maneuver which threatens regional escalation. Iran-backed groups have conducted attacks from Israel’s north, east and south to bolster Hamas’s war aims and detract from the Israeli response to the militant group in Gaza. Below, MEMRI JTTM provides an update on the most recent developments in the multifront threat to Israel.

Iraqi FM says unless US stops Israel, conflict in Gaza will ‘burn all of us’

Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein worries that the conflict in Gaza will drag on and expand beyond Israel’s borders.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said the United States needs to put more pressure on Israel to end the conflict in Gaza, just as Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani urges Shiite militias to stop targeting US military installations in the country amid a surge in such attacks.

How Houthis’ hijacking of Israel-linked ship tests limits of US deterrence

Saeid Iravani told Al-Monitor that Saudi Arabia’s normalizing relations with Israel in the foreseeable future has reached an impasse following war in Gaza.

Iran’s United Nations envoy said Tehran is not seeking to instigate any regional wars and would only get involved in the Israel-Hamas conflict if its national security interest is threatened, but he warned that an increased US presence in the region leaves it more exposed to an attack.

Russian Anti-Tank And Anti-Ship Missiles Sent To Syrian Government Reach Hizbullah’s Arsenal

On November 8, 2023, Reuters news agency, quoting its own sources, reported that Hizbullah had the Soviet-designed Yakhont universal medium-range anti-ship missile,[1] which, called the P-800 Onix, can be launched from the air, from land, and from underwater. According to the agency, Hizbullah may have acquired the Yakhont from Syria, where its fighters have been fighting on the side of the country’s President Bashar Al-Assad and government forces since 2011.

The infographic from the official website[2] of Yakhont manufacturer NPO Mashinostroeniya[3] demonstrates the operations of the Bastion”stationary coastal missile system equipped with a unified Yakhont supersonic homing anti-ship cruise missile. In the image, red lines depict data from combat and homing systems, green lines depict data moving between command points, and blue lines depict the data of land- and air-based homing systems. The missile is designed to engage ships of various classes and types, landing formations, convoys, ship and aircraft carrier strike groups, and land-based targets in conditions of intensive fire and electronic countermeasures.

Deputy Secretary-General Of Hizbullah Sheikh Naim Qassem: Advance Knowledge Of The October 7 Attack Wasn’t Important To Us; Hizbullah’s Participation Is An Integral Part Of The Second Stage Of The War

Deputy secretary-general of Hizbullah Sheikh Naim Qassem said on a November 9, 2023 show on Al-Alam TV (Iran) that it doesn’t matter whether Hizbullah new in advance about the October 7 attacks as long as it was a success. He said that the October 7 attacks required secrecy in order to be successful. Qassem said that this does not mean that Hizbullah will not be part of the second stage of the war, and in fact Hizbullah’s cooperation “was an indivisible part of the resistance and defense.”

Hamas Threatens To Repeat October 7 Attack In Or From West Bank

Hamas leaders continue to threaten a repeat of the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel[1] and to incite the people of the West Bank to attack Israelis and take part in terrorist activity. Telegram channels identified with Hamas’ student organization, the Islamic Bloc, and especially with its branches in the West Bank, are especially active in spreading threats and incitement of this kind.[2] In a November 16 post on its Telegram channel, for example, the Islamic Bloc urged the people of the West Bank to emulate the October 7 attack by storming Israeli localities within their reach. Other posts on this channel likewise incite terrorism and provide operational advice on carrying out effective attacks.

Al Qaeda’s Growing Presence in Southern Yemen Is a Threat to the Regional Security Framework

The recent announcement of an assassination of the commander of the Security Belt forces (in South Yemen), Brigadier General Abdul Latif Al-Sayed, by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is yet another reminder that not only have the security and terrorism concerns in South Yemen have not been put to rest, but that growing sectarianism and political battles over the direction and future of this area plays into the hands of the international terrorist organizations. AQAP took credit for the attack, which also killed several other leaders, according to Aden Al Ghad. Yemen security researcher Elisabeth Kendall pointed out that Abdul Latif Al-Sayed had a falling out with Al Qaeda in 2011, and since then had been a repeat target of assassination attempts.

IRGC Quds Force

General Info:

The Quds Force (Persian: نیروی قدس, romanized: niru-ye qods, lit. ’Jerusalem Force’) is one of five branches of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) specializing in unconventional warfare and military intelligence operations. U.S. Army’s Iraq War General Stanley McChrystal describes the Quds Force as an organization analogous to a combination of the CIA and the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in the United States. Responsible for extraterritorial operations, the Quds Force supports non-state actors in many countries, including Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Yemeni Houthis, and Shia militias in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan.