Iran and Israel Are Locked in a New Kind of War

The Israel-Iran confrontation could serve as a template for future wars: decentralized, digitized, deniable, but deeply destabilizing.

- MANJARI SINGH

As the Iran-Israel conflict escalates, the Middle East finds itself amid a war unlike anything it has seen before. What began with Israel's pre-emptive strike on June 13 targeting Iran's nuclear sites at Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordow along with high-profile assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists and IRGC commanders, has quickly escalated into a confrontation stretching far beyond Tel Aviv and Tehran. Iran's retaliation has included drone and missile attacks on Israeli cities, threats to maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, and strikes on US assets in the Gulf. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has claimed aerial superiority and may be preparing for deeper involvement. This is not a war confined to borders or shaped by traditional objectives; it is unfolding across domains, with implications for global security, energy stability, and geopolitical alignments.

To understand the nature of this conflict, it is essential to step back and compare it with the conventional Arab-Israeli wars of the twentieth century. Between 1948 and 1973, Israel fought four major wars against Arab coalitions, conflicts that were straightforward in structure, fought by regular armies with visible frontlines and clear territorial aims. The wars were brutal but linear. Following the 1978 Camp David Accords with Egypt and the 1994 treaty with Jordan, the region entered a new phase marked by the rise of non-state actors such as Hezbollah and Hamas. This era introduced hybrid warfare, in which Israel found itself countering ideologically driven militias operating from the shadows with state-sponsored backing, especially from Iran.