Israeli Air Force intercepts several drones fired from Iraq

The Israeli Air Force intercepted several drones launched from Iraq at Israeli territory on Monday, according to the Israeli military.

No sirens sounded as the UAVs were shot down before threatening any population centers.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella organization composed of several Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias under the command of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, claimed responsibility for the launches.

Earlier on Monday, the Israel Defense Forces said that two drones were fired from Iraq and two from Lebanon, and that all four were intercepted. Two of the UAVs were intercepted after infiltrating into Israeli territory and two were shot down outside of Israel’s border.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which includes Kata’ib Hezbollah, Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba and Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhadaa, has been launching daily drone attacks at Israel since the Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

A regional security official told the Associated Press last week that the drone attacks have increased in recent weeks, with an average of five a day and eight drones launched over a 24-hour period in the past week.

Israel has warned the Iraqi government that unless it reins in Iranian-backed militias, it could face strikes, according to the Saudi website Elaph.

Israel has identified and is monitoring targets belonging to the Iranian-backed militias and also Iraqi state targets and could start attacking them if the militias keep firing at the Jewish state, according to the report.

Unnamed officials told Elaph that satellites are monitoring the movement of ballistic missiles and related equipment from Iran to Iraq, which could be used in an attack on Israel.

An Iranian official told the Wall Street Journal on Sunday that part of a planned attack against Israel could be launched from Iraqi territory.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaee said at a press conference on Monday that “we would employ all of physical and intellectual capabilities to respond to the Zionist regime,” speaking in response to a question about a potential Iranian attack on Israel from Iraqi soil, according to the semi-official Tasnim News Agency, a Tehran-based media outlet associated with the IRGC.