By Ahmad Othman
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Tension between Israel and Iran escalates in the Middle East following the latter’s attack on Israel with missiles and drones. This tension provides a suitable and attractive environment for extremist groups to emerge, observers discuss.
The Iranian-Israeli tension has started escalating early in April following the Israeli airstrikes on Iran’s consulate in Syria, killing seven Iranian officials. The airstrike was the hardest since the killing of Qasem Soleimani, major general of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and leader of Quds Force, in a U.S. airstrike near Baghdad International Airport in 2020. At the time, Iran responded striking U.S. sites in Iraq.
Although Israel has not stopped targeting Iranian posts and leaders in Syria, especially following the Hamas-led attack on Israel in October 2023, Iran has decided to respond to Israel’s airstrikes on the consulate through carrying out strikes on Tel Aviv.
The current escalation raises fears that the extremist groups may re-organize themselves and re-emerge, utilizing the chaos and the state of insecurity in the region.
Munir Adib, an expert of extremist organizations and international terrorism, told North Press that conflicts and wars constitute a suitable and attractive environment for local and regional violent and extremist groups.
These groups grow up in chaos that has been created in internal wars and regional conflicts, Adib added.
He indicated that the region has engaged in conflicts that would develop to regional and global wars.
Adib pointed out that the Israeli war against Gaza that has also struck the Middle East has helped violent and extremist groups to emerge, including ISIS and other groups of Zionist and Shiite backgrounds.
In the light of the current tension in the region, ISIS has escalated its attacks in Syria, mostly targeting the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in addition to its explicit appearance in the Syrian Desert.
On April 19, ISIS killed 22 militants of an Iranian-backed militia in the Syrian Desert.
On March 13, the SDF announced that two of its fighters were killed in Raqqa Governorate, northern Syria, during clashes with ISIS militants.