Media Guide: Iran’s Proxy Strategy and the Crisis in the Middle East
/By AIC Senior Research Fellow Andrew Lumsden
The Middle East today is in the midst of a resurgence of violent conflict, with lives being lost at a scale unseen in decades. Worse still, there is little end in sight while further escalation remains a dangerously realistic prospect. All of this represents a tragic departure from the relative calm and promising developments the region has experienced in recent years.
The current crisis began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas, a Gaza-based Palestinian militant group, launched an attack on Israel, killing an estimated 1,200 Israelis and foreign residents, and taking more than 200 hostages. In response, Israel launched a military campaign in the Gaza Strip against Hamas. At the time of this publication, the number of deaths in Gaza is estimated to exceed 33,000 with over 76,000 wounded. According to Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry, about two-thirds of these were women and children.
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