DEEP DIVE – For months, a question has loomed over the Israeli wars against Hamas and Hezbollah: at what point would Iran, the patron of those militant organizations, strike back? Israel has battered the leadership and military capacity of both groups, and with each Israeli airstrike and each high-profile killing, the questions followed: How long could Iran go without responding? And how fierce would the response be when it came?
The world got an answer Tuesday, in an Iranian missile barrage against Israel that marked the second major Mideast escalation in less than 24 hours; late Monday, Israel sent troops into southern Lebanon in its campaign against Hezbollah.
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