Levant-Israeli War

The Levant-Israeli War was the first war of World War IV in the alternate timeline. It was triggered by the civilian deaths of two allegedly Tarakian missiles.

Background
The previous incident that nearly erupted into war was the Levant-Israeli crisis of 2060, but through extensive diplomacy prevented. Since then both Israel, and the Levant Arab Republic remained in a state of cold with support from the Democratic Republic of Tarakia and the New Empire of Japan extensively.

New Year's Missile Crisis
As the world celebrated New Year's Day, a Tarakian-made missile attacked the cities of Beirut and Aleppo each. The missile struck public gathering, so casualties numbered thousands killed and several more injured.

An emergency CDC session was held in Belgrade on the incident. The Levant Arab Republic accused Israel or Tarakia for the attacks, while the latter two denied such attack arranged. The New Empire of Japan, looking to avert a war suggested sending in an investigation team and take action based on the findings. All parties agreed, passing a resolution which a team will investigate the sites of the attack and the alleged source.

After nearly two weeks of investigation in Beirut, Aleppo and the Israeli-held Golan Heights, the team reported that the missile is indeed Tarakian, but there were irregularities on where it was fired. The team requested extension for further investigations, which was granted.

Unknowingly for all sides, the whole crisis was manipulated by Equestria. They used this incident to sow discord among the CDC and weaken their militaries. They brought further escalation to the crisis by killing the members of the investigation teams and give false intelligence of an imminent Israeli invasion.

Pre-emptive attacks
The Levant Arab Republic and the New Empire of Japan broadcasted their formal declaration of war. Just as it was announced, locations of Tarakian silos and God Rod satellites were targeted by the Imperial Navy. The combined Levantine and Genji forces started their offensives in Galilee and Jerusalem after orbital strikes smote Israeli-PAMA defences at the Golan. At the same time, the Israeli financial centre of Tel Aviv faced cyberattacks that destroyed their economy. Covertly, the Genji sold remnants of the Separatist Droid Army to the Levant Arab Republic for the use of this invasion. By the end of the day, Jerusalem was overrun and Haifa was captured.

Iranian entry
Two days later, Iran declared war on the Levant Arab Republic and full AZUI assistance. The Tehran Stock Exchange anticipated a cyberattack, so was spared from a wartime financial crash. The Imperial Iranian forces launched an attack into Petra to hopes of capturing the city and using it as a passage to assist Israel. At the same time, Deir-Ez-Zor was targeted in the invasion and fought a heavy Genji presence.

Battle of Tel Aviv and Tarakian reinforcements
The Genji-Levantine forces planned to end the war with the capture of Tel Aviv. They started a siege that surrounded the city with the only entry the Sea of Palestine. The Israeli Navy was destroyed prior to the battle by a contingent of the Imperial Navy and the Levant Arab Navy. The first wave of the attack was conducted by the droid army.

Tarakian reinforcements arrived from Europe. EMP bombs were utilised to deactivate the droids and allow the Tarakians to break through the blockade. Losing the droids, the Genji-Levantine attack force was forced to retreat to prepare for a second wave.

Second wave
The Second Wave struck quickly will full might. The Imperial Navy flagship Yamato Takeru led the main fleet to engage the Tarakian fleet. The Imperial Army deployed weaponry that were used in planetary campaigns and debuted the Jimmu II battle tank.

Saudi Arabian intervention
Saudi Arabia unexpectedly entered the war by invading both the Levant Arab Republic and Iran. A truce was called between the Iran-Israel alliance and Genji-Levantine combatants to focus their firepower on expelling Saudi Arabia’s military from the war. As terms of the proposed truce, the Genji-Levantine armies were to withdraw from Tel Aviv and Galilee while Iran retreats from Jordan and Deir-Ez-Zor. As the terms were agreed on, the Genji-Levantine militaries left Galilee, but not before destroying Israeli assets to increase the costs of Israeli economic recovery.

The combined forces took their positions to repel the Saudi Arabian military shortly after. When the threat was neutralised, all sides continued their war with stalemates for months until the end of the war.

Levant Arab Republic
Despite considerable losses and damage in infrastructure, Levant Arab Republic claimed victory in the war. President Derwish cited the destruction of the Israeli economy, the razing of Galilee and Golan and their initial success to Tel Aviv as reasons to declare victory. As the Levant Arab Republic had a weaker economy, losses were not considered significant compared to those inflicted to the Israelis. Tarakia, the Azerothan Union and their allies attempted to use the CDC to place Levantine officers on trial, but motions were vetoed by the New Empire of Japan.