Al Mayadeen's sources in Iraq reported on Thursday that a drone strike targeted an Israeli site in the "Ashdod port" in the occupied Palestinian territories.

It is noteworthy that the Islamic Resistance in Iraq has transited to the second phase of its operations in which it will work on enforcing blockading Mediterranean maritime routes to the Israeli-occupied ports in occupied Palestine, the Secretary-General of the Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Abu Alaa al-Walai announced in a post on X.

The leader of Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, a faction that operates under the umbrella of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, made the announcement following US strikes that targeted members of the Iraqi government's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).

The US aggression led to the martyrdom of a member of the PMF in al-Qaim, while a PMF training facility was damaged in Jurf al-Nasr.

"While the Americans continue targeting our forces, our mujahideen have begun the second phase of their operations," al-Walai wrote.

Iraqi Resistance's 2nd phase of operations

The Iraqi leader explained that the second phase of operations would include the enforcement of a blockade on "Zionist maritime navigation in the Mediterranean" and "putting [Israeli] ports out of service."

Paired with the Yemeni Armed Forces operations in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, such an action would prove detrimental to the occupation. The Iraqi Resistance has proved that it has the capabilities to target Israeli occupation ports located on the Mediterranean coast. The largest of which, the Haifa port and the "Ashdod" port have come under attack at least twice in 2024.

Commenting on the long-range attack on occupied Haifa, the leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, said that Hezbollah's intelligence confirms that the missile hit its target, adding that the Israeli occupation's military concealed the details of the attack, a tactic commonly deployed by Israeli authorities.

Haifa operation: A sneak peek of what is to come

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq announced that the operation was conducted via an all-new and improved long-range cruise missile, dubbed al-Arqab. The attack, which reportedly hit its target in Haifa, included only one missile, proving the Resistance's capabilities to launch a sneak attack on the Israeli sites, which went undetected for hundreds of kilometers. 

Packaged in a wider-scale attack that includes a flurry of long-range drones and missiles, the Iraqi Resistance could inflict serious damage on the occupied port of Haifa and possibly damage occupied Asdod's port.

The announcement made early on Wednesday morning comes in the context of the Iraqi Resistance's escalating attacks on Israeli targets in occupied territories. It is worth noting that the Iraqi Resistance has also launched multiple attacks on the Israeli sites in the occupied Syrian Golan and the occupied port town of Um al-Rashrash or "Eilat", as referred to by Israelis.

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