Shadow wars in the Middle East 


SYRIA
IRAQ
ISRAEL
SAUDI ARABIA
UAE
OMAN
YEMEN
Tehran  
Natanz 
IRAN
500km 300 miles

Flashpoints between Israel and Iran
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 8 8 9 10


1 1950s: Israel and Iran are allies during reign of Iran’s last monarch, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi

1979: Friendship abruptly ends with Islamic revolution and rise of Ayatollah Khomeini

2 1982: Israel invades Lebanon to expel Palestine Liberation Organization. Israeli-backed militias massacre thousands of civilians in Sabra and Shatila refugee camps

1985: Hezbollah (“Party of God”) – proxy for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps – founded, calling for destruction of Israel

1987: First Palestinian intifada, against Israeli occupation of West Bank and Gaza, sees rise of Hamas, and later Palestine Islamic Jihad

3 2006: Israel invades Lebanon to suppress Hezbollah attacks

4 2007: Hamas seizes control of Gaza Strip from Fatah – Palestinian political party

5 2011: Civil war erupts in Syria. Israel carries out hundreds of strikes inside Syria against Iranian arms shipments to Lebanon

6 2014: 50-day conflict in Gaza – sparked by kidnapping of three Israelis – ends with deaths of 73 Israelis and more than 2,250 Palestinians

2017: Hamas agrees to Fatah’s goal of establishing Palestinian state in West Bank and Gaza Strip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (top) dismisses Hamas deal as meaningless

7 2018: Iranian-backed forces attack Israeli positions on Golan Heights near disputed Syrian-Israeli border

8 2019-21: Tit-for-tat attacks on shipping – Israel targets some 20 ships carrying Iranian oil or weapons

9 Apr 2021: Iran blames Israel for explosion at its largest uranium enrichment facility in Natanz

Oct: Israel likely behind cyberattack that paralyzes payments at over 4,300 Iranian fuel stations

10 Jan 2023: Israel accused of drone strike against Iranian weapons factory in city of Isfahan

Oct 7: Hamas launches surprise assault on Israel


Sources: Bloomberg, Financial Times
Pictures: Getty Images 
© GRAPHIC NEWS