Israel just marked the first anniversary of Hamas’s massacre of 1,200 men, women and children on Oct. 7, which launched the regional war that continues to rage in the Middle East. While Israel is bearing the brunt of the multifront conflict—facing direct attacks from the regime in Tehran and its proxies in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, Syria and the West Bank—the war has also had consequences for the United States.
Hamas killed 46 Americans on Oct. 7 and took an additional 12 U.S. citizens hostage. Among the American hostages was 23-year-old Hersh Goldberg-Polin, whose parents campaigned for his return for 11 months, meeting with world dignitaries and appearing at both the Republican and Democratic national conventions. Despite their efforts, Hamas executed Hersh in captivity in Gaza along with five others. The Israeli military recovered their bodies shortly thereafter, on Sept. 1.
Today, seven American hostages remain in Gaza.
While the number of attacks on U.S. troops by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria was already on the rise before Oct. 7, assaults spiked in the months following the Hamas atrocities. Between Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration in January 2021 and March 2023, American troops in Syria were attacked 78 times. In June 2023, The Washington Post reported that Tehran was equipping regional proxies with weapons “intended specifically to target U.S. military vehicles and kill U.S. personnel” as part of a broader strategy to eject America from the area. Since Hamas launched the war last year, Iranian-supported terrorists have targeted American troops in Iraq, Syria and Jordan more than 180 times, killing three U.S. service members in Jordan in January. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq—the umbrella group for Iranian-backed militias in Iraq that took responsibility for the murder of the U.S. service members—claims to have attacked Israel some 115 times since Oct. 7.
Iran and its regional proxies have threatened not only the physical safety of Americans but also their prosperity. According to the U.S. Navy, between 2021 and July 5, 2023, Iran has “harassed, attacked or seized nearly 20 internationally flagged merchant vessels.” Since the war between Israel and Hamas began, the regime in Tehran has largely outsourced the harassment of shipping in the Red Sea to its Yemen-based proxy: the Houthis.
In April, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency reported that the Houthis have attacked 26 ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since November. The Red Sea is a major international shipping artery, with between 10% to 15% of international maritime trade and 30% of global container shipping passing through. According to the DIA report, shipping in the Red Sea was down 90% between December 2023 and February 2024, constituting a major blow since alternate shipping routes around the Horn of Africa add about 11,000 nautical miles, one to two weeks of transit time, and approximately $1 million in fuel costs for each voyage. The crisis could exacerbate other stresses on shipping, and ultimately, lead to inflation and increased consumer prices in the United States.
Israel has absorbed two direct assaults from Iran—one in April and one earlier this month—and more than 20,000 rockets and missiles from Iranian proxies across the region. The trend of militias killing and terrorizing U.S. and Israeli citizens long predates Oct. 7. Nevertheless, the Hamas attack—funded and supported by Tehran—has brought Iran’s dangerous behavior into sharp relief. Washington should continue to support Israel as it faces off against shared adversaries in the region, and back Israel as it eyes a significant attack that will weaken the Islamic Republic and potentially curb its malign activity.
