A rocket warning siren sounded in the Golan Heights on Thursday morning and the IDF spokesperson confirmed that a cruise missile fired from the east was intercepted. According to estimates, the missile was fired by pro-Iranian militias in Iraq.
This is not the first time that militias in Iraq have targeted Israel; they have claimed responsibility for several launchings of rockets, missiles and UAVs since October 7. For example, the "Islamic Resistance in Iraq," an umbrella organization that includes pro-Iranian militias operating in Iraq and Syria, claimed to have targeted two different "vital targets" in Haifa port using UAVs on Wednesday. However, there has been no official confirmation of such an attack in Israel.
Some two months ago, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed responsibility for firing missiles toward a strategic target in Israel. In this case, the IDF spokesperson confirmed that a missile fired from Iraq was identified and hit the Israeli Navy base in Eilat.
At the same time, sirens sounded in the Golan Heights due to an incoming UAV which was intercepted by the IDF in Syrian territory. The organization claimed responsibility hours after the IDF announced that it had downed a suspicious aerial target that made its way to the southern Golan Heights from Syrian territory. The UAV was shot down by a fighter jet before crossing into Israeli territory.
A month prior to that, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq published claims of responsibility for attacks using UAVs against the chemical plant in Haifa port, the power plant at the Haifa airport, the Kiryat Shemona airport, Ben Gurion Airport, and other sites.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq has two main objectives. The first is to support the Palestinians through fighting against Israel. The militias are backed by the IRGC Quds Force and are part of the Shiite resistance axis. The group's second mission is the removal of American forces from Iraq. The international coalition led by the U.S. is in Iraq to assist in the fight against terror groups like ISIS, and the Islamic Resistance in Iraq sees it as an occupying force and demands that the Iraqi government remove the Americans.
From the beginning of the war until the end of January, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq has continuously attacked American bases in Iraq and Syria due to the fact that the U.S. is assisting Israel in the war in Gaza. At the end of January, the Hezbollah Brigades in Iraq, a pro-Iranian militia operating within the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, announced that it was freezing its activities against the Americans.
In an official statement, the group declared: "We announce the cessation of military and security operations against the American occupation forces. We will continue to support Gaza in other ways."
According to reports, pressure was then exerted on the militias to stop operating against the U.S.