The History of the Israel-Iran War: How they Became Enemies.
The Jews, in their numbers, were forced to flee from their homeland about two thousand years ago because of their frequent revolts against the Romans, who were then their overlords. This was after the death of Jesus Christ. Over the decades, they dispersed into all the continents, leaving only a negligible number behind.
Most of the Jewish immigrants prospered in the countries they had settled in, but they were not the darlings of other citizens in those places. In fact, Adolf Hitler of Germany hated them so much he had them; in all the countries he conquered, rounded up and put into camps where they were gassed to death. About six million were believed to have been murdered this way. This was during the Second World War.
Since they were only tolerated in many countries, the Allied Forces that defeated Hitler decided to return them to their original land. As expected, their land had been occupied by other tribes. The Muslim majority among the occupiers had even built a mosque right on top of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem.
The United Nations, which had just been formed at that time, was able to carve a tiny strip of land for them, which is now Israel. They were not even allowed to own Jerusalem again. Donald Trump was so enraged by this denial that he ordered them to take it back as their capital during his first term as President of the United States.
Despite documented and physical evidence that the Jews were originally the owners of most of that area, Muslims, who are now the dominant group, still insist they have no right to live in any place there. As a result, they have waged wars against them several times, but on each occasion, the new Jewish state had triumphed and even gotten back some of its former territory. The series of defeats made Israel’s neighbours stop their aggression and make peace with her. But not Iran (a regional power), which is not even her neighbour.
For over four decades now, Israel has been at the receiving end of hate speeches from successive Iranian leaders. They use every occasion to yell ‘death to the Jews’ or ‘death to all Israelis’. They have no qualms telling the world that they are going to wipe out the state of Israel from the face of the earth one of these days. It’s as if this was why they were created.
These Iranians have not restricted themselves to only verbal attacks on Israel. Since both countries have no common border, Iran has been sponsoring jihadist groups to commit horrible crimes against Israelis. Some of the groups include Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and Hamas in Gaza.
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On 7 October 2023, for instance, Hamas terrorists from neighbouring Gaza breached the border fence erected by the Israelis and pounced on several homes and people partying in one of the settlements. They murdered 1,200 Israelis and dragged 250 into Gaza as hostages. Some of those taken captive were foreigners.
Those killed included pregnant women and babies. Some of the women were raped before being killed, while the bowels of some were ripped open with swords. Some of these gory scenes were captured on CCTV cameras, while others were narrated by those who were lucky enough to escape.
For several days after the horrendous act, Israel had waited patiently to see if the United Nations would come up with a plan on how to get its citizens out of Gaza as well as how to rid the world of the barbarism Hamas represented. Only feeble condemnation of the atrocious act of 7 October came from some quarters.
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When Israel launched the operation to free the hostages after waiting for weeks without a word on what to do about the situation from the UN, another proxy of Iran joined the fray. Hezbollah, a group that Iran had armed to the teeth, began firing missiles from Lebanon into Israeli homes across the border. The Lebanese Army did not stop them, nor did the United Nations Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which was raised to prevent such cross-border fire. Israel had to evacuate hundreds of its citizens from the area into hotels where the Hezbollah missiles could not reach.
Hezbollah was not the last of the Iranian proxies. The Houthi rebels, who had fought the government forces to a standstill and now control a large chunk of Yemeni territory, including Sana’a, the capital, also joined the fight against Israel. They started firing rockets at ships passing through the Suez Canal with the claim that these vessels belonged to Israelis. A few ships had caught fire from direct hits, and many began to avoid the route. The Houthis then started firing missiles directly into Israeli territory.
It was at this point that some onlookers became worried. They felt Israel should take the fight to the Iranians. They were afraid that fighting only Iran’s suicidal proxies would wear the Israelis down. Moreover, Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme was reported to be nearing the stage where it could be used to make warheads within a few months if it chose to. It was feared that if it got to this stage, the Iranians would only be too glad to use them to achieve their objective of annihilating Israel.
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As if the Israeli leadership were thinking the same thing as these concerned watchers, on 13 June 2025, their fighter jets, coordinated by their spies on the ground, bombed strategic targets in Tehran and other Iranian towns. Apart from critical infrastructure that was destroyed or damaged, half a dozen or so top commanders of the Iranian military and a couple of nuclear scientists were also eliminated that day.
The following day or so, the Iranians retaliated by firing missiles into Israeli towns, and some deaths and destruction were also recorded. It is too early at this stage to predict how it will end. But for now, the Iranians are no longer threatening that they are going to wipe Israel off the map. They are now saying that if Israeli bombings stopped, they are ready to negotiate!
Maduku, a retired Nigerian Army (Infantry) Captain and novelist, lives in Effurun-Otor, Delta State.
The History of the Israel-Iran War: How they Became Enemies.
