Iranian involvement in Latest Gaza Operation

(With thanks to Alma Research & Education Center)

In recent years, Iran has been building proxy militia forces across the Middle East. In recent months, especially during Ramadan and the Iranian Quds Day (the last Friday of each Ramadan), Iran has aggressively marketed the narrative of the 'joint operations room' and the unity of arenas, involving all factions that fight against Israel.

The assessment that Israel will have to deal with a number of fronts has grown stronger.

Initial responses to the operation in Gaza from Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, the Shi'ite militias, and the leadership of PIJ in Syria and Lebanon also included the 'unity of arenas' narrative.

However, as the hours passed by and the response by PIJ to the IDF's opening strike became delayed, it became clear that it is not so easy for Iran to implement its multi-front vision against Israel.

The sense of solidarity that Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah tried to push in his May 12 speech amounted to mere words. Clearly, he is not interested in threatening Israel with war for someone else's interests. It is worth recalling that last summer, Hezbollah threatened war if no agreement would be reached over the maritime border that would allow Lebanon to extract natural gas from the Mediterranean Sea.

The current escalation revealed that Iran's "multiple fronts" vision is not so easy to fulfill and that the Iranians will have to generate an interest for each player to harness it for war against Israel.

Following the elimination of PIJ's senior command by Israel (six senior operatives in total), the organization's leadership abroad took over the decision-making. This leadership, located mainly in Syria, is in close contact with Iran and is heavily influenced by it - and less influenced by the mediator - Egypt (PIJ is fully funded by Iran to the tune of tens of millions of dollars a year).

This time it was clear that PIJ operatives fighting in the field wanted to reach a ceasefire – But behind the scenes, as the hours went by, Iranians exerted heavy pressure to continue launching rockets into Israel.

  As has always been said – the Iranians will fight against Israel until the last Palestinian.  They have no real interest in promoting the Palestinian issue or caring for Palestinians.