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On December 21, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI) announced that it had attacked a target in the southernmost Israeli city of Eilat.
In a statement, the IRI said that the attack is a continuation of their resistance to the Israeli occupation as well as to support the people of the Gaza Strip in response to “the massacres committed by the usurping entity against Palestinian civilians”.
The Jordanian Defence Ministry said later that it had shot down a suicide drone after it crossed into Jordanian airspace from Iraq. The Israeli Defense Forces didn’t comment on the incident.
The IRI, an umbrella group of Iranian-backed armed factions, is armed not only with suicide drones, but also cruise and ballistic missiles.
This was IRI’s fourth attack against Israel since the war in Gaza broke out on October 7. The first attack was on November 2. Back then, the group said that it 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. Another attack on the port city was announced on November 12.
The IRI has also carried out more than 115 attacks against United States forces in Iraq and neighboring Syria since October 17.
The IRI’s attacks had a real impact on the war in Gaza. Israel was forced to reinforce its air defenses in its eastern southern regions, while the U.S. deployed more than 1,200 troops and a dozen air defense systems to protect its bases in the Middle East.
