What is the Iran-backed ‘Axis of Resistance’ and what does it mean for Israel?

Israel’s sharp escalation against the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah has killed hundreds of people, injured thousands and left an estimated half a million displaced, Lebanese authorities say. The idea crystallized during Syria’s civil war around 2011, when Iran — which already had close ties with Syria and helped establish Hezbollah in the ‘80s — pushed the Lebanese group to send its veteran fighters to bolster the flagging forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad. It doesn’t want to die because of decisions made by Hamas.” Iranian worshippers walk past a mural showing the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, right, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, left, and Basij paramilitary force, as they hold posters of Ayatollah Khomeini and Iranian and Palestinian flags in an anti-Israeli gathering after Friday prayers in Tehran in April. The primary response came from Hezbollah, which on Oct. 8 began to lob rockets across the border with Israel in what it called a “support front,” intended to relieve pressure on Palestinians in Gaza by forcing Israel to keep troops near its northern border rather than deploy them in the south.