Iran Update, March 24, 2024

Iran Replace, March 24, 2024

Andie Parry, Annika Ganzeveld, Peter Mills, and Brian Carter

Data Cutoff: 2:00 pm ET

NOTE: CTP-ISW will publish abbreviated updates on March 23 and 24, 2024. Detailed protection will resume Monday, March 25, 2024.

CORRECTION: CTP-ISW inaccurately reported on March 23 that the IDF had concluded its operation at al Shifa Hospital. This operation remains to be ongoing, and the IDF didn’t report on March 23 that the operation had al Shifa had ended.

The Iran Replace offers insights into Iranian and Iranian-sponsored actions overseas that undermine regional stability and threaten US forces and pursuits. It additionally covers occasions and traits that have an effect on the steadiness and decision-making of the Iranian regime. The Crucial Threats Challenge (CTP) on the American Enterprise Institute and the Institute for the Examine of Struggle (ISW) offers these updates usually based mostly on regional occasions. For extra on developments in Iran and the area, see our interactive map of Iran and the Middle East.

Observe: CTP and ISW have refocused the replace to cowl the Israel-Hamas warfare. The brand new sections handle developments within the Gaza Strip, the West Financial institution, Lebanon, and Syria, in addition to noteworthy exercise from Iran’s Axis of Resistance. We don’t report intimately on warfare crimes as a result of these actions are well-covered in Western media and don’t instantly have an effect on the navy operations we’re assessing and forecasting. We completely condemn violations of the legal guidelines of armed battle and the Geneva Conventions and crimes in opposition to humanity although we don’t describe them in these stories.

Click on here to see CTP and ISW’s interactive map of Israeli floor operations. This map is up to date day by day alongside the static maps current on this report.

Key Takeaways:

Northern Gaza Strip: The Israel Protection Forces (IDF) engaged Palestinian militias north of Gaza Metropolis, together with in Beit Hanoun.
Israeli forces continued operations close to al Shifa Hospital, Gaza Metropolis, on March 24. CTP-ISW inaccurately reported on March 23 that the IDF had concluded its operation at al Shifa Hospital. This operation remains to be ongoing, and the IDF didn’t report on March 23 that the operation had al Shifa had ended.
Southern Gaza Strip: The IDF launched a second clearing operation in al Amal, western Khan Younis, on March 24.
Lebanon: The IDF performed an airstrike focusing on a Hezbollah “weapons workshop” in Baalbek, the Bekaa Valley, on March 23 following a Hezbollah assault focusing on an Israeli air protection website in northern Israel.
West Financial institution: Israeli forces have clashed with Palestinian fighters in at the very least 9 places within the West Financial institution since CTP-ISW’s final information cutoff on March 23.
Yemen: The Houthis launched 5 anti-ship ballistic missiles focusing on the Panamanian-flagged, Chinese language-owned, and Chinese language-operated oil tanker Huang Pu within the Pink Sea on March 23.

Gaza Strip

Axis of Resistance marketing campaign goals:

Erode the desire of the Israeli political institution and public to launch and maintain a serious floor operation into the Gaza Strip
Degrade IDF materials and morale across the Gaza Strip.

The Israel Protection Forces (IDF) engaged Palestinian militias north of Gaza Metropolis. Native Palestinian sources reported that Israeli armor entered japanese Beit Hanoun on March 23.[1] The IDF acknowledged on March 24 that its forces are working in Beit Hanoun, saying that the IDF Air Pressure performed an airstrike on a goal in Beit Hanoun that “posed a menace to the forces working within the space.”[2] The al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, which is the self-proclaimed navy wing of Fatah and aligned with Hamas within the warfare, focused Israeli armor with a rocket-propelled grenade east of Beit Hanoun on March 23.[3] The Democratic Entrance for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), which is a leftist Palestinian militia aligned with Hamas within the warfare, reported its fighters detonated an improvised explosive machine focusing on Israeli armor in al Shati Camp, northern Gaza Metropolis on March 23.[4]

Israeli forces continued operations close to al Shifa Hospital, Gaza Metropolis, on March 24.[5] The IDF mentioned that it confirmed 480 of the 800 detainees it detained at al Shifa Hospital are linked to Palestinian Islamic Jihad or Hamas.[6] The IDF 401st Brigade (162nd Division) and Israeli particular operations forces seized weapons, destroyed militia infrastructure, and engaged Palestinian fighters within the al Shifa Hospital space over the previous 24 hours.[7] Palestinian militias performed at the very least 9 assaults focusing on Israeli armor and infantry close to al Shifa Hospital.[8] Hamas focused three Israeli tanks with explosively fashioned penetrators (EFPs) and rocket-propelled grenades south of al Shifa Hospital on March 23.[9]

The IDF Nahal Brigade (162nd Division) continued clearing operations within the central and northern Gaza Strip on March 24. The Nahal Brigade raided a drone manufacturing website belonging to the Standard Resistance Committees (PRC), a Palestinian militia aligned with Hamas within the warfare, within the central Gaza Strip and killed Palestinian fighters guarding the location.[10] The DFLP focused Israeli armor south of Deir al Balah with rocket-propelled grenades.[11]

The IDF launched a second clearing operation in al Amal, western Khan Younis, on March 24. The IDF beforehand operated in al Amal in February and early March 2024 earlier than shifting floor operations to northern Khan Younis.[12] The IDF mentioned that the IDF and Shin Guess redeployed to al Amal based mostly on intelligence that Palestinian militias had been utilizing civilian infrastructure there for navy functions.[13] The IDF mentioned that the clearing operations will proceed to dismantle militia infrastructure and goal remaining Palestinian fighters.[14] The IDF Air Pressure performed roughly 40 airstrikes on militia targets to help the IDF 89th Commando Brigade, Givati Brigade, and the seventh Brigade’s maneuver into al Amal.[15] Native Palestinian sources reported that the IDF remoted al Nasser Hospital and al Amal Hospital in northern al Amal on the early morning of March 24.[16] The IDF issued a press release that known as on Hamas to ”cease utilizing hospitals and different civilian services as a protect.”[17] Palestinian Islamic Jihad mentioned that its fighters focused Israeli armor with rocket-propelled grenades, anti-tank guided missiles, and small arms within the al Amal space on March 24.[18]

The IDF seventh Brigade and Kfir Brigade continued clearing operations in Qarara, northern Khan Younis, on March 24.[19] The brigades killed Palestinian fighters close to the Israel-Gaza Strip border and focused a gathering website for Hamas fighters in Qarara.[20] Israeli forces seized weapons caches and an IDF helicopter struck a tunnel shaft in Qarara.[21] Palestinian militias didn’t declare assaults focusing on Israeli forces in Qarara on March 24.

Palestinian militias didn’t conduct oblique hearth assaults from the Gaza Strip into Israel on March 24.

West Financial institution

Axis of Resistance marketing campaign goals:

Draw IDF belongings and sources towards the West Financial institution and repair them there

Israeli forces have clashed with Palestinian fighters in at the very least 9 places within the West Financial institution since CTP-ISW’s final information cutoff on March 23.[22]

This map isn’t an exhaustive depiction of clashes and demonstrations within the West Financial institution.

Southern Lebanon and Golan Heights

Axis of Resistance marketing campaign goals:

Draw IDF belongings and sources towards northern Israel and repair them there
Set circumstances for successive campaigns into northern Israel

Lebanese Hezbollah has performed at the very least seven assaults from southern Lebanon into northern Israel since CTP-ISW’s final information cutoff on March 23.[23]

The IDF performed an airstrike focusing on a Hezbollah “weapons workshop” in Baalbek, the Bekaa Valley, on March 23 following a Hezbollah assault focusing on an Israeli air protection website in northern Israel.[24] That is the fourth time that the IDF has performed airstrikes within the Bekaa Valley since October 7.[25] The Bekaa Valley is an space that accommodates important Hezbollah navy infrastructure together with coaching facilities, weapons storage websites, and ballistic missile manufacturing services.[26] Hezbollah claimed that it launched greater than 60 rockets focusing on IDF headquarters and coaching grounds within the Golan Heights after the IDF airstrike in Baalbek.[27] Israeli media individually reported {that a} probably IDF airstrike killed an unspecified Syrian particular person in Souairi within the Bekaa Valley on March 24.[28]

Recorded stories of assaults; CTP-ISW can’t independently confirm influence.

Iran and Axis of Resistance

Axis of Resistance marketing campaign goals:

Show the potential and willingness of Iran and the Axis of Resistance to escalate in opposition to the US and Israel on a number of fronts
Set circumstances to struggle a regional warfare on a number of fronts

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq—a coalition of Iranian-backed Iraqi militias—claimed a drone assault focusing on the Israeli Protection Ministry on March 23.[29] Israeli officers haven’t commented on the claimed assault on the time of writing. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq additionally vowed to “escalate” its assaults through the month of Ramadan, which started on March 10 and ends on April 9.[30]

The Houthis launched 5 anti-ship ballistic missiles focusing on the Panamanian-flagged, Chinese language-owned, and Chinese language-operated oil tanker Huang Pu within the Pink Sea on March 23.[31] The assault brought about a hearth on the Huang Pu, which the crew rapidly extinguished. The Houthis focused the Huang Pu regardless of earlier Houthi claims that the group would supply secure passage to Chinese language and Russian ships transiting the Pink Sea.[32] The Houthis mistakenly launched an anti-ship ballistic missile focusing on a tanker south of Yemen carrying Russian oil in early January 2024.[33]

US forces engaged six Houthi drones over the southern Pink Sea on March 23.[34] 5 of the drones crashed into the Pink Sea whereas the sixth drone flew again into Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen. CENTCOM assessed that the drones offered an imminent menace to US, coalition, and business vessels within the Pink Sea.[35]

[1] https://www.aa dot com.tr/ar/%D8percentA5percentD8percentB3percentD8percentB1percentD8percentA7percentD8percentA6percentD9percent8ApercentD9percent84/%D8percentBApercentD8percentB2percentD8percentA9-%D8percentA2percentD9percent84percentD9percent8ApercentD8percentA7percentD8percentAA-%D8percentA5percentD8percentB3percentD8percentB1percentD8percentA7percentD8percentA6percentD9percent8ApercentD9percent84percentD9percent8ApercentD8percentA9-%D8percentAApercentD8percentAApercentD9percent88percentD8percentBApercentD9percent84-%D8percentA8percentD8percentB4percentD9percent83percentD9percent84-%D9percent85percentD9percent81percentD8percentA7percentD8percentACpercentD8percentA6-%D8percentB4percentD8percentB1percentD9percent82percentD9percent8A-%D8percentA8percentD9percent8ApercentD8percentAA-%D8percentADpercentD8percentA7percentD9percent86percentD9percent88percentD9percent86-/3172944 ; https://t.me/jenencamb/43020

[2] https://twitter.com/idfonline/status/1771802835547570549

[3] https://t.me/elaqsa_1965/6097

[4] https://t.me/kataeb_moqawma/4183

[5] https://www dot idf.il/187673

[6] https://twitter.com/idfonline/status/1771802820322148576 ; https://twitter.com/manniefabian/status/1771803829337473254

[7] https://twitter.com/idfonline/status/1771802820322148576 … idf.il/187673

[8] https://t.me/qassam1brigades/1799 ;

https://t.me/elaqsa_1965/6098 ;

https://t.me/elaqsa_1965/6104 ; https://t.me/elaqsa_1965/6105

[9] https://t.me/qassam1brigades/1800

[10] https://twitter.com/idfonline/status/1771802835547570549 ; https://twi… https://twitter.com/JoeTruzman/status/1771929798522364067

[11] https://t.me/kataeb_moqawma/4183