Tipping Point Quick Hits (01.18.24)

War in the Middle East, the elites in Davos, and mass extinction

Is This How the Regional War Begins?

Late Monday night, Iran launched missiles at an area near the U.S. Consulate in Irbil, Iraq, claiming that the target belonged to the intelligence agency Mossad. Iranian forces also described the target as “one of the main espionage headquarters” of Israel. The strikes killed four civilians and injured six others. Irbil, in northern Iraq, is home to the Kurdish people group.

No U.S. facilities were damaged in the attacks and no American personnel were injured. However, the United States was quick to condemn “Iran’s reckless missile strikes,” as described by Matthew Miller, a spokesperson for the State Department. Israel has not yet commented on the attack, which is covered in this news report:

An Iraqi security official said Irbil was targeted with “several” ballistic missiles but did not give further details. An official with an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia said 10 missiles fell in the area near the U.S. Consulate. He said the missiles were launched by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity.

The attacks are raising fears that the war between Israel and Hamas could be on the verge of spilling into the rest of the Middle East, widening into a full regional war as the United Nations continues to hear claims that Israel’s defense amounts to “genocide” against Palestinians. (Israel strongly denies this claim and is backed up by the United States and the UK.)

But as more allies of Hamas—including Iran and its proxies—launch attacks on Israeli forces, experts are worried the conflict is about to explode beyond Gaza. Known as the “axis of resistance,” Iran’s network of Islamic militias is spread throughout four Middle Eastern countries.

• Hezbollah continues to engage in confrontations with Israeli soldiers on the Lebanon-Israel border, but has lost nearly 200 fighters since early October.

• Houthi rebels based in Yemen are attacking commercial ships and military vessels in the Red Sea, practically shutting down this critical shipping route. The U.S. and U.K. are targeting positions used by the Houthis to launch these attacks.

• Iranian-backed forces are attacking U.S. military positions in Iraq and Syria, while U.S. strikes are destroying the infrastructure of these fighters.

• Iran and Pakistan are attacking each other. Iran conducted an air strike on a Sunni militant group inside Pakistan. In response, Pakistan struck Iran across the two nations’ volatile border. Iran is trying to cement its role as a military power in the region, and instability is always in its favor.

• The popularity of Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis and other groups has begun to soar in Arab nations in support of the Palestinian people.

I expect these regional attacks and conflict to continue as long as the war in Gaza continues. Whether they escalate into a larger war pitting Israel, the U.S. and the U.K. against the rest of the Middle East—and maybe the rest of the world—is a question time will only answer. Things are on the verge of spiraling out of control. Divisions with the West are sharpening. The United Nations is pressuring Israel to halt its military campaign. Prophetic Scriptures like Ezekiel 38 makes it clear a larger war is on the horizon, and the list of Israel’s opponents today closely resembles those passages.

The regional war might be here already, though it has remained low-key and is more of a tit-for-tat response between the West and the “axis of resistance” against Israel. But don’t sleep on the fact that all of this is part of a jihad against Israel that includes Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran.

The war is already bubbling under the surface. What happens when it finally boils over?

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