Hezbollah strongly opposes Israel’s existence as well as US intervention in the Middle East.
Tensions in the area have risen since Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Iranian-backed Palestinian groups, attacked Israel on October 7, sparking a devastating Israeli offensive in Gaza that has continued for more than six months.
The war in Gaza has killed over 34,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials.
Hezbollah immediately began striking Israeli targets, opening up tit-for-tat fighting along a second front, while Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, Syria and Yemen have also fired missiles and drones at Israel throughout the war.
While Israel and Iran have waged a shadow war for years, mostly in neighboring Syria, they have largely avoided direct confrontations. That changed after an April 1 airstrike killed two Iranian generals at an Iranian diplomatic compound in the Syrian capital of Damascus. Although Israel did not comment, Iran blamed Israel for the strike and vowed revenge.
