Israel warns an elite Iran-backed unit is now in Lebanon to join war

Intelligence shared with Newsweek in July described the Imam Hossein Division as a product of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, constituting its "most elite fighting force in Syria." It was said to have been established in 2016 to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government against rebels and jihadis, including the Islamic State militant group (ISIS), in the midst of the country's civil war.

After the defeat of ISIS, the group was behind several missile attacks against Israel from Syrian territory and rocket attacks against U.S. troops in Syria, according to the intelligence. The group was said to be armed with precision-guided munitions and both armed and surveillance drones. It was comprised of combat, special forces and logistics departments, with a fighting force made up of thousands of fighters, mostly Syrians, but also hailing from Afghanistan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Sudan, Yemen and elsewhere.

It was referred to as "the Hezbollah 2.0."

Today, amid the devastating conflict that has emerged between the Palestinian Hamas movement and the IDF, attacks against U.S. forces in Syria and in neighboring Iraq have increased dramatically. A U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) spokesperson recently told Newsweek that a group calling itself "the Islamic Resistance in Iraq," which has claimed these strikes, is in fact "a broader term used to describe the operations of all Iran-backed militias in Iraq."

The CENTCOM spokesperson further asserted that increases in the U.S. force posture in the region since Hamas' unprecedented October 7 surprise attack on Israel "were intended to serve as an unequivocal demonstration in deed and not only in words, of U.S. support for Israel's defense and serve as a deterrent signal to Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah, and any other proxy across the region who might be considering exploiting the current situation to escalate conflict."

As such, the CENTCOM spokesperson stated that, "those adversaries should think twice."

Still, such attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria have continued, and the Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed Thursday to have attacked "a vital target for the Zionist entity on the coast of the Dead Sea," which lies between Israel and the West Bank on one side and Jordan on the other.

Newsweek has reached out to the Iranian Mission to the United Nations for comment.

Contacted for comment in July on the existence of the Imam Hossein Division as well as Iran's relationship with self-styled "Axis of Resistance" forces operating in Syria, the Iranian Mission said that "following the formation of ISIS and their occupation of territories in Iraq and Syria, Iran organized Shia volunteers from different countries to fight against the terrorist group."

"The volunteers ultimately eliminated ISIS' self-proclaimed government," the Iranian Mission told Newsweek at the time. "The sole agenda behind the formation of the volunteers from Syria was to fight terrorism under the auspices of the Syrian government."

As the IDF's war in Gaza continued to intensify weeks after Hamas launched an unprecedented October 7 surprise attack against Israel, clashes have also escalated along the Israel-Lebanon border.

Amid daily cross-border hostilities, Hezbollah announced Thursday that "the mujahideen of the Islamic Resistance" targeted 19 Israeli military sites. The IDF, for its part, said it conducted strikes against "terror targets" in southern Lebanon using aircraft, tanks and artillery.

While clashes between the IDF and Hezbollah have broken out sporadically in recent years, including during previous Israeli battles with Hamas in Gaza, the current levels of hostility are approaching tempos not seen since 2006, the most recent of the two wars between the two sides.

That conflict came one year after Israeli troops withdrew from Gaza. Shortly after taking control of the Palestinian territory amid a violent rift with rival Palestinian faction Fatah, which leads the Palestinian National Authority in the West Bank, Hamas clashed with Israel in several major wars and confrontations, of which the current is by far the deadliest.

The latest developments also came on the eve of a highly anticipated address set to be delivered Friday by Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah.

While Shiite Muslim Hezbollah's support for Assad in the face of Syria's largely Sunni Muslim uprising in 2011 initially opened up a rift with Sunni Muslim Hamas, the two forces have growing increasingly aligned in recent years.

Iranian officials have distanced themselves from playing any lead role in the October 7 attack, but they have acknowledged providing the Palestinian factions involved with more than just rhetorical support. A number of senior members of Hamas and the allied Islamic Jihad group have openly touted their support from Iran, and have called on Arabs and Muslims from across the globe to take action against Israel.

Against this backdrop, the IDF spokesperson told Newsweek that Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh was traveling to Iran on Thursday, though neither side has yet to confirm the visit. Haniyeh met previously met with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian just two days earlier as well as on October 14, both times in the Qatari capital of Doha.

Uncommon Knowledge

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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