The tragic backdrop of the year was Israel's continuous airstrikes in the direction of Hamas in Gaza. the misery of trapped Palestinians. and the suffering of Israeli hostages and their families.

But the game changer was a much bigger attack. Israel faced its archenemy, Iran.

In September, speaking at the UN General Assembly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “I have a message for the dictators of Tehran. If you hit us, we'll hit you.”

Armed with billions of dollars worth of American weapons, Israel attacked Iran's puppet militias, Hezbollah, with ground troops and air strikes in Lebanon.

Israel also killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and detonated hundreds of pagers, leaving Hezbollah fighters fragmented and demoralized.

Ayatollah Khamenei put on a brave face, telling supporters earlier this month: “By God's divine power…our resistance will now be expanded.”

But the regime was humiliated. Even the hundreds of cruise missiles that Iran fired at Israel were mostly intercepted and did little damage.

Tehran also suffered a defeat in Syria when its ally, dictator Bashar al-Assad, was toppled by Islamist militants who stormed key cities and claimed victory.

2024 was a year of seismic changes in the Middle East, and only one thing is certain: the region will never be the same again.

Add Donald Trump to the mix, whose foreign policy will be disruptive (to say the least), and 2025 could offer either a fragile peace… or disaster.

Story produced by Mark Hudspeth Editing by Chad Cardin.

Elizabeth Palmer

Elizabeth Palmer is a CBS News senior foreign correspondent based in the CBS News London bureau, covering major events in Europe and the Middle East. Palmer was previously based in Tokyo and before that in Moscow.