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The Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI), an umbrella group of Iran-backed armed factions, attacked late on September 25 the Israeli Red Sea port of Eilat with suicide drones, causing casualties and damage.
The attack was carried out “in response to the massacres committed by the usurping entity [Israel] against civilians, including children, women, and the elderly” in the Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, the group said in a statement, vowing that “operations against enemy strongholds will continue at an increasing pace.”
Video footage released by the group showed the launch of what appears to be two Iran-made Shahed-131 suicide drones. The Shahed-131 has a range of 900 kilometers and can carry a warhead weighing at least 15 kg.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said that one of the drones was intercepted by a Sa’ar 5-class corvettes of the Navy over the Red Sea. However, it admitted that the other drone managed to hit the port of Eilat, causing damage. The military released video footage of the successful interception.
Hebrew news accounts on social networks shared videos showing a large blast at the port and smoke rising from a warehouse there.
From its side, Israel’s Magen David Adom ambulance service said that two people were wounded by the drone strike on the port. Both men were listed in good condition and did not require hospitalization, according to the service.
The IRI began carrying out attacks against Israel as well as against United States forces in Iraq and neighboring Syria last October in response to the Israeli war on Gaza.
Earlier this week, the group escalated its attacks against Israel in response to the IDF’s ongoing aerial campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon. The strike on the port of Eilat was the fifth attack to be claimed by the group on September 25. Previous attacks caused damage and fires in the Jordan Valley and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.
While Israel has not openly responded to the IRI’s attacks yet, it was blamed for several strikes that targeted Iran-backed armed factions along the Syrian-Iraqi border and near the Syrian capital, Damascus, after the start of the war in the Strip. Iraqi fighters and commanders were killed in some of these strikes.
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