Before Sunday’s attacks, tensions in the Middle East had been high for weeks in the wake of high-profile assassinations of senior leaders of the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.
The July killings intensified the longstanding conflict between Israel and Iran, which backs Hamas and Hezbollah and which has threatened retaliation. They also fueled alarm among global leaders, including in the United States, where the Biden administration has urged restraint to prevent a broader war from engulfing the region.
Here are some of the key developments in recent months.
Jan. 2: A Hamas leader’s killing in Beirut
Hamas accused Israel of killing Saleh al-Arouri, a senior leader, along with two commanders from its military wing in an explosion in a suburb of Beirut, Lebanon’s capital. Previously, Beirut had been far from the cross-border violence between Israel and Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese militia that, like Hamas, is aligned with Iran. Mr. al-Arouri was the first high-level Hamas official to be killed outside the West Bank and Gaza in recent years. Israeli officials declined to comment, but Lebanese and U.S. officials attributed the attack to Israel.
Jan. 6: Hezbollah’s retaliation against Israel
In response to Mr. al-Arouri’s assassination, Hezbollah fired a volley of rockets at a small military base in northern Israel. Though Hezbollah said it caused casualties, the Israeli military reported no injuries and responded with its own strikes in Lebanon. Analysts viewed Hezbollah’s response as a symbolic act rather than a significant escalation, with the group firing about 40 rockets toward Mount Meron, an area housing a military radar station.
April 1: Airstrikes in Damascus
Israel carried out airstrikes that hit part of the Iranian Embassy complex in Damascus, Syria, killing three senior Iranian commanders and four officers involved in Iran’s covert operations. The attack, one of the deadliest in the yearslong shadow war between Israel and Iran, increased regional tensions, which were already strained over the war in Gaza and hostilities involving Iran-backed groups. Israeli officials, speaking anonymously, confirmed the strike but denied that the targeted building had diplomatic status.
April 14: A barrage of missiles and drones against Israel
Iran retaliated for the Damascus strikes by launching more than 300 drones and missiles against Israel, its first open attack on Israel from Iranian soil. The strikes, aimed at military targets, caused minor damage and injured a young girl. Israel intercepted most of the projectiles and others were shot down by U.S. and Jordanian defenses. The calibrated attack, telegraphed well in advance, demonstrated Iran’s effort to avoid mass casualties or direct war, analysts said.
July 13: An airstrike in a designated humanitarian zone of Gaza
Israel tried to kill Muhammad Deif, a top Hamas military commander in Gaza, in an airstrike that the territory’s health ministry said killed 90 people and injured 300 others. The strike hit a strip of coastal land known as Mawasi, which Israel had designated as a humanitarian zone, and where thousands of displaced Palestinians were living. Mr. Deif, believed to be a mastermind behind the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, had long been a high-priority target, and after weeks of uncertainty about his condition, Israeli authorities said in August that he had been killed. Hamas has not explicitly confirmed or denied Israel’s claim.
July 27: Rocket strikes in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights
A rocket from Lebanon struck a soccer field in the Druse town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, killing 12 teenagers and children, according to the Israeli military. It was the deadliest single attack from across Israel’s northern border in months of hostilities. Israel accused Hezbollah, but the group denied responsibility.
July 30: A second strike in Beirut
Israel targeted Fuad Shukr, a senior Hezbollah leader and close adviser to the organization’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in a deadly strike in Beirut. Israeli officials described the attack as a response to the Golan Heights rocket strike, but the assault quickly raised concerns in the region about Israel’s willingness to strike deep within Lebanese territory.
July 31: A top Hamas official is killed in Tehran
Hours after the strike in Beirut, Ismail Haniyeh, one of the most senior Hamas leaders and a key figure in the stalled cease-fire talks, was assassinated in Iran, where he had gone for the inauguration of that country’s new president. Iran and Hamas said Israel had carried out the killing, and they vowed to retaliate. Mr. Haniyeh, who had led Hamas’s political office and helped manage negotiations for a cease-fire, was killed by an explosive device covertly smuggled into the guesthouse in Tehran where he was staying, according to seven Middle Eastern officials, including two Iranians, as well as an American official.
August: A barrage of cross-border strikes between Israel and Hezbollah
The recent assassinations appeared to further worsen the prospects for a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel. The pace of cross-border strikes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon also escalated drastically.
In mid-August, an Israeli airstrike hit a factory in a small town in southern Lebanon, killing at least 10 civilians, according to Lebanese officials. It was one of the largest death tolls in Lebanon since the war in Gaza started in October.
Yan Zhuang contributed reporting.
Read More: Live Updates: Israel Strikes Hezbollah in Lebanon, Saying It Thwarted Major Attack
