[30] In response, Iran and its Axis of Resistance allies seized the Israeli-linked ship MSC Aries and launched strikes inside Israel on 13 April.

The killing of Haniyeh occurred a few hours after the 2024 Haret Hreik airstrike in Lebanon that assassinated Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr.

[38] Iran began to gain power and influence with other Islamist countries and groups in the Middle East,[39][40] collectively named the "Axis of Resistance".

[41] The conflict evolved with Israeli attempts to stop the Iranian nuclear program and confrontations during the Syrian civil war.

[42][43] On 7 October 2023, Hamas, a Palestinian militant group partially funded by Iran, launched an attack on Israel resulting in the deaths of almost 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, and the outbreak of the Gaza war.

[47] On 25 December, Razi Mousavi, an Iranian commander, was killed in a targeted Israeli airstrike at his residence in Sayyidah Zaynab, 10 km (6 mi) south of Damascus, amid the Gaza war.

The Israeli airstrikes, as reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, resulted in the complete destruction of the building, leading to the death of at least 10 military personnel.

[53] Israel began preparing in the days leading up to the attack, evacuating Israeli embassies and jamming GPS signals in the case of an aerial bombing.

[9] On 13 April 2024, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy took control of the Portuguese-registered and Madeira-flagged container ship MSC Aries in the Hormuz Strait where it was boarded by Iranian commandos in international waters off the coast of the United Arab Emirates via helicopter,[56][57] then directed to Iranian territory for "violating maritime law".

[31] The Houthis, Islamic Resistance in Iraq, Badr Organization, and True Promise Corps also launched attacks on Israel under Iranian command.

[62][63] A 7-year-old Israeli Bedouin child was critically injured by a missile shrapnel, and 31 other civilians suffered minor injuries while rushing to shelters or due to anxiety.

[34] On 31 July, Fuad Shukr, a senior Hezbollah commander was assassinated in an Israeli strike on Haret Hreik, in the suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut.

[82] Later that day, Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, was assassinated along with his personal bodyguard in the Iranian capital Tehran by an apparent Israeli attack.

[35] Haniyeh was killed in his accommodation in a military-run guesthouse after attending the inauguration ceremony for Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian.

[36] Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a message to Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei through Sergei Shoigu, the secretary of Russia's security council, to have a restrained response, and not to attack Israeli civilians.

[95] Later that day and the next, thousands of communications devices (including pagers and walkie-talkies) exploded simultaneously across Lebanon and Syria, with Israel aiming to attack Hezbollah members.

[97] On 23 September, Israel killed two of Hezbollah top commanders, Ibrahim Aqil and Ahmed Wehbe in Dahieh, south of Beirut.

On 26 October 2024, Israel began attacking Iran, with explosions heard near Imam Khomeini International Airport, Mashhad, Karaj, Kermanshah, Zanjan.

Unnamed officials allegedly told outlets that satellites monitored the transfer of ballistic missiles and related equipment from Iran to Iraqi territory.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani warned that the letter served as pretext for an attack on Iraq, aligning with Israel's efforts to expand the war in the region.

[117][118] The Israeli security threat towards Iraq caused the Iraqi government to issue a statement that it would take all necessary diplomatic and military actions to protect its sovereignty.