ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iran-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq announced they launched fresh rocket attacks towards what they called “an important target” in southern Israel in the early hours of Friday, continuing to defy warnings from the Iraqi government that Baghdad must not enter an all-out regional war.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed they targeted “an important target” in Israel’s southernmost coastal city of Eilat “using drones.” 

The group reiterated that they would press on with their "operations to destroy the strongholds of the enemies at an increasing pace.” 

Targeting the Israeli military is to "support our people in Palestine and Lebanon, and in response to the massacres committed by the usurping entity against civilians, including children, women, and the elderly,” the Iraqi faction said.

The group also carried out another four drone attacks allegedly targeting the Israeli military’s positions on the annexed Golan Heights and other parts of Israel.

The fresh drone attacks came hours after Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani said they would not allow Iraq to turn into a battleground and engage in war with Israel, in response to comments from an official from the Iran-backed Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba told an Iraqi media outlet that the final decision to enter war with Israel using Iraq’s soil was vested in their hands, not the Iraqi government.  

“The state makes the decision of war and peace through its constitutional institutions,” Sudani said in his meeting with the Wasit province’s tribal leaders, warning “anyone who deviates from that will face the state.”

The Iran-backed militia groups in Iraq have launched over 200 drone attacks on Israel almost since Tel Aviv killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in airstrikes on a southern Beirut suburb in late September. 

The Middle East is on the brink of an all-out war in the wake of heightened escalations between Israel and its arch-foe regional forces including Iran and smaller armed groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon, Huthis in Yemen, Hamas in Palestine, and Iran-backed Shiite militia groups in Iraq and Syria. 

Iraq has repeatedly warned on several occasions that it does not seek to engage in any regional conflict with Israel. 

On one occasion in early October, two Israeli soldiers were killed and 24 others wounded in an attack on Israeli troops on the Golan heights launched from Iraq, the Israeli military confirmed.

Iraq has so far managed to shield itself from the conflict's direct effects. PM Sudani repeatedly credited this success to cooperation with international partners while stressing the need for continued diplomatic efforts to prevent further deterioration.