Six months after Israel warned that it might expand its war-between-wars campaign against Iran, four mysterious daytime blasts rocked arms depots belonging to Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias in Iraq.

All four blasts, which raised little concern or interest in Israel until Tuesday, were attributed by foreign sources to the Jewish state.

Both Israel and the US have warned that Iran and its proxy militias are the biggest threats to peace in the region, and that they hope to weaken Tehran’s growing influence across the Middle East and the Persian Gulf.

The first strike close to Iraq attributed to Israel was in June of last year near the town of Al-Bukamal, killing 22 members of a Shi’ite militia. While the Syrians attributed the attack to the US-led coalition, it is largely believed to have been carried out by the Israel Air Force.

Just weeks before the first strike in Iraq, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned – during a visit to an F-35 squadron at the Nevatim Air Force base – that Israeli planes can strike anywhere in the Middle East, including Iran and Syria.

And Iraq is smack in the middle.

But the alleged Israeli strikes in Iraq – which were reportedly carried out with the approval of Russia and the United States if this is correct – could get complicated, as US forces are deployed in the country working side-by-side by Iraqi troops who themselves are working with the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).

https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Is-Iraq-in-the-cross-hairs-of-Israeli-strikes-Analysis-599307