Iraqi Shiite Militias Redeploy to Syria as Fight Against Israel Looms - Reports

Following the assassination of Chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31, which has near unanimously been blamed on Israel by regional and Western sources, escalation tensions between Iran and Israel have led states across the region to take growing precautions against the outbreak of full scale war. With the Iranian leadership and that of Hezbollah affirming that there would be retaliation against Israeli targets, while Tehran has cited Article 51 of the United Nations Charter guaranteeing its right to self defence, Israel had warned that any attack causing significant casualties or widespread destruction would lead it to retaliate by launching a full scale war.

Ongoing hostilities across Israel’s borders have seen the country exchange fire with Palestinian paramilitaries in Gaza, the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, the Yemeni Ansuruallah Coalition, and with Iran itself in April. The possibility has more recently been raised of a further front being opened in Syria, as while Syrian government forces are preoccupied with confronting Turkish forces and Turkish-sponsored paramilitaries across their western border, non-state paramilitaries maintain a considerable presence across the Israeli border. Recent reports that Iraqi paramilitaries, largely trained and armed by Iran, have been redeployed to Syrian territory, if confirmed, would provide a further indication that Syria would emerge as a further frontier for hostilities.