Iran-Backed Forces in Iraq Claim Missile, Drone Attacks on Israel

By Melanie Sun

The Iran-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq (ISI) claimed responsibility on Sunday for launching cruise missiles and drones toward Israel overnight, in coordination with Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

In a statement, the ISI said that it had launched a drone attack targeting an Israeli military base in the Jordan Valley.

The IDF said on Sunday that a drone entering Israeli airspace from the east was shot down by the Israeli Air Force over the southern Golan Heights. Sirens in the area were triggered to warn of potential falling shrapnel but no injuries or damage were reported.

Earlier, the IDF said the air force had successfully intercepted suspected cruise missiles launched from Iraq to the east toward the southern Golan Heights.

The ISI has made multiple attempts at drone and missile strikes on Israel since January, and have threatened to intervene in the conflict.

According to the D.C.-based non-profit Institute for the Study of War, such threats are likely part of the strategic goals of the Iranian Islamic regime and its regional allies, like the ISI, to assist Hezbollah deter a major Israeli offensive by saying that such actions risk a wider regional conflict.

On Sept. 20—in response to Israel’s assassination of top Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil and 15 other commanders during a meeting in Beirut, which Israel said was to plan an imminent Oct. 7-style attack from the north—ISI-aligned group Kataib Sarkhat al Quds, formerly known as Ashab al Kahf, said it was prepared to send “hundreds or even thousands” of militants to Lebanon to support Hezbollah to fight Israel.

Hezbollah Continues Attacks on Northern Israel

Hezbollah continued its rocket attacks overnight and early into Sunday morning, injuring four in Israel as well as causing serious damage to civilian structures.

The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday that Hezbollah had launched approximately 150 rockets, cruise missiles, and UAVs toward Israeli territory overnight.

“With high interception rates, the multi-layered aerial defense effort prevented significant damage to the home front,” the IDF said.

The majority of the attacks were aimed at northern Israel, triggering sirens in the Western and Lower Galilee Regions, and hitting open fields, as well as homes and cars.

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying they were ongoing retribution for Sept. 17 and 18, when more than 37 Hezbollah members were killed and thousands more injured by exploding pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon. Victims included the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon and the sons of some prominent Hezbollah leaders, but also two children including a 16-year-old Hezbollah operative from south Lebanon.

Hezbollah blamed Israel for the attacks. Israel did not comment but security experts say the attacks were likely mounted either by Israel’s Mossad spy agency or by Unit 8200, the IDF’s secretive high-tech unit.

The Iran-backed terrorist group said in a statement on Sunday that it used Fadi-1/2 long-range missiles and rockets to target the Ramat David Airbase near Beit She’arim and then the Rafael defense facility near Haifa.

The IDF accused Hezbollah of targeting civilians as rockets, which weren’t intercepted, hit other structures.

The Magen David Adom (MDA) ambulance service said it treated four people for minor injuries overnight and early Sunday morning and a number of people for anxiety amid the rocket attacks and resulting siren warnings that were triggered across Western and the lower Galilee.

Around 1:20 a.m., a 60-year-old man was treated for a light shrapnel scratch from an interception missile near the Ramat David Airbase at Beit She’arim. The Israeli Air Force houses F-16C/D squadrons and drones at the base.

A 17-year-old lost control of his vehicle and died in a crash near the airbase as the rockets and sirens sounded overhead. His four passengers were also injured. And 25 cows were killed when a Hezbollah rocket landed on a Dairy Farm in the Jezreel Valley, about 9 miles south of the airbase.

Around 6:30 a.m., the MDA reported a rocket hitting houses in the Western Galilee city of Kiryat Bialik, 3 miles south of the Rafael defense facility near Haifa. It said it treated two men in their 70s and a 16-year-old girl for minor rocket shrapnel injuries, and several people for acute anxiety or injuries from falls while running to shelters.

About 18 miles west of the Rafael facility in Moreshet, there were also reports of significant damage to houses but fortunately no injuries.

Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging fire since the mysterious pager blasts on Sept. 17. Israel has been taking out Hezbollah sites like rocket launchers in southern Lebanon through Sept. 21, saying it was responding to intelligence that Hezbollah was preparing to launch a major imminent attack on its military infrastructure in northern and central Israel.

Schools in Northern Israel Ordered to Shut

Schools across Israel’s north have been ordered to remain closed as of Sunday in light of the crossfire in the region.

The Israeli military’s civil defense agency, the Home Front Command, announced that schools and other educational institutions and activities would not be permitted in the north until at least 6 p.m. local time on Monday.

The announcement also tightened earlier restrictions on public activities in the north after around 20 attacks were reported in the region from Lebanon that started on Friday.

Schools from the Golan Heights, Galilee, Haifa Bay area, and the northern valleys will be shut as far south as Beit Shean, which is about 40 miles from the Lebanese border.

Outdoor gatherings will now be restricted to 10 people, down from 30, while indoor activities will be capped at 100 people, down from 300. And only workplaces with adequate shelters will be allowed to open.

Lebanon’s Ministry of Education also announced it was closing places of learning across the country for the week.

Israel has vowed to degrade Hezbollah’s terrorist infrastructure and capabilities to secure the safe return of Israeli residents evacuated from northern border areas.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said (Hebrew) that Israel will continue to pursue its objectives against Hezbollah.

“Even in Dahieh in Beirut—we will continue to pursue our enemy in order to protect our citizens,” he said. “The sequence of actions in the new phase will continue until our goal is achieved: the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes.”

Since Oct. 8 last year, when it vowed to support fellow Iran proxy Hamas’s fight against Israel, Hezbollah has launched attacks into northern Israeli communities and military posts along the border almost every day.

In the escalating conflict, Israel has reported 22 IDF members and Hezbollah has reported 502 members killed in the conflict, according to local media. One Lebanese soldier and 79 members of other pro-Iran terror groups have also been killed.

On the civilian front, 26 have died in Israel and dozens have died in Lebanon, according to local media.

Dan Berger contributed to this report.