File image.
Early on November 12, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI), which is backed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, announced that it had launched another attack against Israel in support of the Gaza Strip.
In a brief statement, the IRI said that its fighters had struck a target in the southern Israeli city of Eilat with “suitable weapons”.
The attack was carried out “in support of people in Gaza, and in response to the massacres committed by the usurping entity [Israel] against Palestinian civilians, including children, women and the elderly,” the group noted.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) didn’t report any attack on Eilat. However, a video posted on social media showed a blast over the city, possibly from an interception attempt.
This was IRI’s third attack against Israel since the war in Gaza broke out. On November 2, the group said that it had hit a “vital” Israeli target on the shores of the Dead Sea. Later on November 3, the group announced that it had carried out an attack on Eilat.
The IRI formed a special operations room to support Gaza following the October 17 Al-Ahli Arab Hospital massacre and joined the war by launching attacks against United States bases in Iraq and Syria.
So far, the group has launched more than 40 drone and rocket attacks against U.S. bases. The attacks wounded at least 56 American troops, according to the Pentagon.
The IRI’s attacks had a real impact on the Israeli war on Gaza. The IDF was forced to delay its ground operation in the Strip while the U.S. was deploying more than 1,200 troops and a dozen air defense systems to protect its bases in the Middle East.
The group, which is armed with tactical ballistic missiles, suicide drones and cruise missiles, could play a more active rule in the multi-front war in coming days and weeks.
