Iran’s two-front war on Israel: From October 7 to election interference - opinion

This opinion piece argues that Iran has waged a two-front war against Israel since October 7, 2023: a physical front via Hamas and a cyber/influence front. It cites survivor testimony of Farsi spoken by attackers, Iranian training of Hamas operatives, and a sharp escalation in Iranian cyber operations through fronts like Handala Hack. The piece warns of ongoing Iranian influence operations targeting the October 27, 2026 Israeli election, urging preparedness.

This opinion piece by Sophia Politis argues that Iran has waged a two-front war against Israel since the October 7, 2023 massacre: a physical front via Hamas and a parallel cyber and influence campaign. The article cites survivor Eyal Eshel, whose daughter was killed at the Nahal Oz base, who told Channel 2 that survivors heard attackers speaking Farsi inside the compound. It references a Wall Street Journal report that some 500 Hamas and Islamic Jihad operatives received combat training in Iran in September 2023, led by the IRGC with Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani attending. The piece details a sharp escalation in Iranian cyber operations through fronts such as Handala Hack, which leaked the phone of PM Netanyahu's aide Tzachi Braverman and breached Naftali Bennett's Telegram account. Cyabra, an Israeli firm, scanned over 162,000 accounts discussing the attack and found one in four was fake, with ~40,695 fake profiles created over a year earlier and lying dormant until October 7. The article warns that Iranian influence operations are already underway to deepen Israeli divisions ahead of the October 27, 2026 election, citing an investigation by the OSINT platform Golden Owl that mapped 119,717 accounts and confirmed 57 as part of an Iran-linked campaign posing as Israelis. The piece calls for hardened election systems, platform accountability, and public vigilance.