The policy takes its name from a 1983 statement by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhaq Shamir that "Middle East peoples should realize that if Israel is provoked, the hand extended in peace will turn into an iron fist that will strike at terrorism to the bitter end.

"[3] In The Struggle Over Lebanon, journalist Tabitha Petran described the policy as an "important factor in Israel's defeat in the south and eventual withdrawal".

[7] On 4 March, a bomb that, according to Robert Fisk, had been planted by the IDF in a Maarakeh mosque exploded, leaving 15 people dead, including Mohammed Saad and Khalil Jradi.

[10] The IDF has raided the village two days earlier, with a force of some 800 Israelis in a column comprising two bulldozers, three tanks, 50 APCs, and 30 vehicles of other types, and searched that mosque.

[8] On 4 August 1985 the national unity cabinet declared an "Iron Fist" policy of crackdowns against Palestinian opposition in the occupied West Bank.