Israel is being attacked daily by one-way drones from Iraq, two US officials say

Iranian-backed militias are launching one-way attack drones against Israel from inside Iraq, which US and partner forces have had to intercept, two officials tell The Associated Press.

Both a US defense official and a regional security official say the one-way drones have been an issue since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, and aren’t a retaliation from Iran for Israel’s strikes last week.

However, drone attacks have increased in recent weeks. There’s been an average of about five launches a day from within Iraq targeting Israel by Iranian-aligned militia groups, and within the last week, eight UAVs were fired in one 24-hour period, the regional security officer says.

The US and partner forces have been intercepting the attack drones, the officials said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details that have not been made public on the Iraq-launched drone attacks.

The ongoing launches have increased the chance that Israel will respond directly to those attacks, the regional security official says.