1 Instute for the Study of War and AEI’s Crical Threats Project 2023
Iran Update, November 18, 2023
Ashka Jhaveri, Amin Soltani, and Nicholas Carl
Information Cutoff: 2:00 pm EST
The Iran Update provides insights into Iranian and Iranian-sponsored activities abroad that
undermine regional stability and threaten US forces and interests. It also covers events and trends
that affect the stability and decision-making of the Iranian regime. The Critical Threats Project
(CTP) at the American Enterprise Institute and the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) provides
these updates regularly based on regional events. For more on developments in Iran and the region,
see our interactive map of Iran and the Middle East.
Note: CTP and ISW have refocused the update to cover the Israel-Hamas war. The new sections
address developments in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Lebanon, and Syria, as well as noteworthy
activity from Iran’s Axis of Resistance. We do not report in detail on war crimes because these
activities are well-covered in Western media and do not directly affect the military operations we
are assessing and forecasting. We utterly condemn violations of the laws of armed conflict and the
Geneva Conventions and crimes against humanity even though we do not describe them in these
reports.
Click here to see CTP and ISW’s interactive map of Israeli ground operations. This map is updated
daily alongside the static maps present in this report.
Key Takeaways:
1. Israeli forces are expanding offensive operations into Gaza City. Israel forces provided
humanitarian aid to al Shifa Hospital as civilians evacuated the medical complex.
2. Al Qassem Brigades military spokesperson said Hamas is preparing for a flexible and
protracted defense in the Gaza Strip, which is consistent with the delaying operation that
CTP-ISW assessed that Hamas is conducting against advancing Israeli forces.
3. Israel conducted a drone strike on a Palestinian militia headquarters in the Balata refugee
camp in the northern West Bank.
4. Iranian-backed militants, including Lebanese Hezbollah, conducted 13 cross-border
attacks into northern Israel.
5. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq—a coalition of Iranian-backed Iraqi militias—conducted
one attack targeting US positions in Syria.
6. Iranian Defense and Armed Forces Logistics Minister Brigadier General Mohammad Reza
Gharaei Ashtiani argued that the Axis of Resistance has successfully destabilized and
isolated Israel since Hamas’ October 7 attack.
