When the grip of Iraq’s Tehran-backed Shi’ite Muslim parties and militias threatened to slip following the killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, they turned to an unpredictable rival.

Lebanon’s security agency this week released a number of documents detailing a thwarted plot by a member of the Islamic State (IS) group to attack the US Embassy in Lebanon with a drone.

A failed attempt to plant a bomb at the border cost a Palestinian militant his life. But the seizure of his body drew harsh criticism within Israel.