Israel’s 2024 war explained: Seven fronts, shifting tactics, divided enemies, and lessons for 2025.
One of the main challenges for Israel in 2024 was the multi-front war. Hamas launched the murderous October 7 massacre in 2023, but the multi-front war became the major challenge in 2024. This is because Israel initially focused on fighting Hamas in November and December 2023. Those were the most intense months of fighting in Gaza.
After Hamas launched its attack, Hezbollah joined in. Hezbollah launched thousands of rockets at Israel, around 7,500 rockets, and 200 drone attacks by August 2024. The Houthis also began attacks, launching missiles and drones at Israel and then at various ships in the Red Sea.
Next came the Iranian-backed militias in Iraq that began targeting Israel with drones. By the end of the year, around 200 missiles and 170 drones had been launched by the Houthis at Israel. Iran also attacked Israel twice, once with hundreds of drones and missiles and again in October with 180 ballistic missiles. Overall, Iran likely launched 500 projectiles at Israel.
Israel struggled to contain the multi-front war. Commercial airlines stopped flying to Israel from some countries. Israel was at first cautious in its response to Iran, striking only a limited number of targets in April. Israel also waited to respond to the Houthis until they killed a person in Tel Aviv in July. Then Israel retaliated.
Israel also took time to begin assassinating key leaders. Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran. Then, Israel ramped up the war on Hezbollah in mid-September 2024. Israel waited a long time to do this. Once Northern Arrows was launched,d Hezbollah launched around 3,000 rockets at Israel in several weeks of fighting.
Essence of the war
Israel’s strikes on Iran in October were more extensive than the first strikes. Israel also expanded strikes on the Houthis in four overall strikes in 2024. Overall, though, the Houthis have not been deterred. Israel launched some large-scale raids in the West Bank to prevent Palestinian terror groups from increasing their threats there. Israel also carried out strikes in Syria against Iranian targets and then, after December 8, against the remnants of the Syrian military’s assets.
This is the essence of the multi-front war. It was waged in stages and aimed at breaking down one enemy at a time. Israel didn’t feel it could fight on seven fronts at the same time. It chose its battles carefully. It used special forces and other operations when necessary. Israel also worked closely with the US Central Command. Iraqi militias, for instance, targeted US forces hundreds of times and killed three Americans in January 2024. This was a multi-front war, but Israel also had allies and partners. For instance, the US and other countries helped against the Iranian attacks in April and October.
The fall of the Assad regime may reduce one of the fronts. It seems that Iran can no longer entrench in Syria. The Hezbollah front is still a problem. The 60-day ceasefire that began on November 27 will end in late January 2025. Israel will need to see if it can extend this ceasefire. Hezbollah suffered blows, but it still has an arsenal. The Houthis are also not deterred. The Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad cells in the northern West Bank are a threat, fueled by weapons smuggling. However, the Palestinian Authority has been cracking down on them.
2025 will likely see a continuing multi-front war, but one that has changed dramatically from 2024. In 2024, the Iranian-backed groups felt they were winning against Israel. Now, Israel has the upper hand. This is important because these groups are now more divided than they were a year ago. Israel will need to take advantage of this to deal a blow to Hamas and end this war. If it doesn’t end the war in Gaza, then the other fronts may percolate. However, recent moves by the Iraqi militias, in which they appeared to indicate they will stop targeting Israel for now, are promising developments.