After the State of Israel buried two IDF soldiers and a newborn baby who was murdered before even being granted the right to live, the Israeli military is preparing for more violence. The question remains, who stands behind the recent escalation? According to a recent report in Yedioth Ahronoth, Hamas, an Iranian proxy, stands behind the recent spike of violence in Judea and Samaria. And according to Palestinian dissident Mudar Zahran, Iran used the Gazan terror groups to lash out at Israel because the Islamic republic needs a diversion from its present predicament due to the increased U.S. sanctions. The question remains, why does Iran seek to target Israel now when Israel just permitted Qatar to transfer $15 million to Hamas?
Iran has suffered immensely from the recent U.S.-imposed sanctions. According to the International Monetary Fund, in the wake of the latest U.S. sanctions, GDP growth in Iran will be -1.5% for 2018. In addition, the IMF projects that the sanctions will cause 40% inflation and a 1.3% increase in unemployment this year. Although eight countries were exempted from Iran's sanctions on humanitarian grounds, these exemptions are only temporary and would be subject to an immediate reduction of 40% to 50% of Iran's oil purchase. While all of these statistics are unlikely to hinder Iran from continuing to support both Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Al Arabiya noted that Iran is still hurting, prompting the regime to engage in increasingly repressive measures against their own people and to take further action against Israel.
According to Iranian political theorist Dr. Reza Parchizadeh, "The Iranian regime always exploits Israel's security weaknesses as a bargaining chip with the U.S. That is why it needs a foothold close to Israel. Whenever the Iranian regime is under pressure from the U.S., it tightens the screws on Israel so the U.S. relents. In the months leading up to the new round of sanctions, Iran was openly threatening Israel with retaliation and annihilation. Abbas Araghchi, the political deputy of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, threatened European countries with terrorism and security problems if they would not try harder to ease the U.S. sanctions. The same thing is with Israel. As soon as the [Iranian] regime is under pressure, it incites Hamas and Islamic Jihad to open fire on Israel. It has probably kept Hezbollah for the next phase of the escalation."
Mendi Safadi, who heads the Safadi Center for International Diplomacy, Research, Public Relations and Human Rights, added, "After Iran took control of Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq and Syria, it is working to take over Gaza and the Palestinian Authority. It is pouring in a lot of money in order to keep the flames on fire in Gaza and in order to spread it to the PA." The Gazan terror groups have ample reason to pay attention to instructions given to them by the Iranian regime. According to a Palestinian source, the Iranians are very influential with most of the terror groups in Gaza especially when their paychecks come in.
According to Dr. Mordechai Kedar, a senior lecturer at Bar-Ilan University, "The Iranians paid for the Gaza protests and the arson attacks which they did in our fields, groves and forests. They were behind the kite and balloon terror. They also paid for the Qassam rockets. They sponsored the development of rockets that could surpass the capabilities of Iron Dome." A press release put out by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terror Information Center found that when a Gazan anti-tank Kornet missile hit a bus with soldiers inside of it, severely injuring one, the technology was provided by Iran. Yedioth Ahronoth has reported that Iran transfers $100 million per year to Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Both terror groups use the Iranian money to prepare for war against Israel instead of helping their own civilian populations.
According to a Palestinian source, Hamas ultimately agreed to a cease-fire only because it was threatened by Egypt: "It wouldn't be the Israelis who would wipe Gaza out." Given this, Hamas is not entirely committed to the cease-fire. Therefore, according to Safadi, even after Hamas agreed to a cease-fire in Gaza, it continues to incite young people and to seek an escalation of violence in Judea and Samaria so that it can justify the funds that it receives from its Iranian masters. Iran wants Israel to suffer particularly to avenge for the suffering that the U.S. has inflicted on the Iranian regime: "Hamas is not acting on its own but is directed by external elements that dictate the agenda."
By escalating the violence in Judea and Samaria, Iran seeks to sabotage any potential U.S. peace plan before it has a chance to get off the ground. Therefore, Zahran claims that the recent violence that Israel has experienced has everything to do with changes that are happening in the region and the motivation behind it is to provoke Israel into declaring a total war – a trap that, so far, Israel has not fallen for. Given this, Israel can expect more violence in the immediate future.
