JERUSALEM: Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant hinted on Tuesday (Dec 26) that the country had retaliated in Iraq, Yemen and Iran for attacks carried out against it as the war with Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip widens to other areas of the region.
“We are in a multi-front war and are coming under attack from seven theatres: Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Judea and Samaria (West Bank), Iraq, Yemen and Iran. We have already reacted and taken action in six of these theatres,” he told lawmakers.
Since Gaza hostilities erupted with a cross-border Hamas rampage on Oct 7, the Israeli military has said it also responded for knock-on attacks from Lebanon and Syria, and carried out raids on Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank.
It has not published such acts in Yemen, whose Iran-aligned Houthis have carried out long-range missile and drone launches at Israel and attacked shipping in the Red Sea, nor in Iraq, where a pro-Iran militia said last week it had fired a drone at the southern Israeli port city of Eilat.
Nor has Israel reported any operations within Iran, its arch-enemy and a sponsor of Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.