As Israel reels from a coordinated terror operation by Gaza-based Hamas that, by early accounts, has left dozens of civilians dead and wounded, it's unclear how the military may retaliate.
Early reports show that dozens of Israelis have been killed, while Hamas has claimed to have taken more as hostages and brought them back to the Gaza Strip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was now "at war" and vowed to "exact an immense price from the enemy" as the Israeli Defense Force continues to respond.
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While Hamas launched the attack, it has the financial backing of Iran, according to Joe Truzman, a research analyst for the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, which means Israel's retaliation could involve Iran.
Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi, a top military adviser to the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, said they “support the Al-Aqsa Storm operation,” a reference to the name given to Hamas’s incursion, which is a reference to the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Nasser Kanani, said the attack "marked a new page in the field of resistance and armed operations against the occupiers," per the Times of Israel.
Experts and researchers have noted that the scope and scale of these attacks will likely lead to a heavy response.
"This is an unprecedented multidimensional attack on Israel designed to kill and abduct civilians and soldiers. Part of the Iranian network of terror," Jonathan Conricus, a former IDF spokesman, said. "As the extent of Israeli casualties will be confirmed, I expect an Israeli response never seen before. This is just the beginning."
"Remember how this started. Butchered Israeli civilians, executed in cold blood," he added. "This is the time for Israel to send a resounding message to all Iranian proxies and puppeteers that the times have changed."
Iran also is a significant backer of Hezbollah, another U.S.-designated terrorist organization based in Lebanon, which borders Israel to the north. Israeli officials have warned about the possibility of fighting a two-pronged war, both against Iranian-backed groups, in the south against Hamas and in the north against Hezbollah.
Sarit Zehavi, the founder of the Alma Center, which is a research center in Israel dedicated to understanding their national security situation, told the Washington Examiner that there's a chance Hezbollah could soon attack Israel with the country's attention focused on the south.
"It's just a matter of decision for Hezbollah, whether it wants to join in or not. I believe this decision was not made yet, and that's why we're not there yet, but maybe we're not that far from this place," she said. "Here in Israel, we are preparing for the scenario of war also from the north because we understand it was within the interest of Iran and Hezbollah to escalate the Israeli-Lebanese border. We see what is happening in the south as a part of a bigger plan to attack Israel and weaken the state of Israel from multiple fronts, and I guess this is what the Iranians now are trying to create."
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Back in May, Israeli Defense Forces military intelligence chief Aharon Haliva said the “chances of an escalation that could deteriorate into war [with Lebanon] is not low” and that Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was in danger of “making a mistake that could plunge the region into a big war,” when Nasrallah said they could “rain down our precision missiles” on Israel.
It's unclear if there's any connection, but the U.S. agreed to give Iran access to $6 billion of its own money that was frozen internationally as a part of an agreement to secure the release of five U.S. citizens being held in Iranian prison. The deal, which occurred last month, had some critics that argued Tehran could use that money however it wanted, though the Biden administration maintained it could only be used for humanitarian purposes.