Middle East - Army: Israel flies attacks in southern Lebanon after shelling
The Israeli Air Force, in response to renewed attacks on areas in northern Israel, according to its own statements, attacked positions of the pro-Iranian Shia militia Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
In the past few hours, several targets, among them military installations, were attacked, the Israeli army announced late on Friday evening. The pro-Iranian militia had fired over 25 rockets and three drones at Israel earlier, according to Israeli military reports. No casualties were reported among the population. However, some of the rockets caused forest fires. In response, Israel's army reportedly targeted several Hezbollah launch positions.
Eighteen years after the last Lebanon War, there is growing concern about a new war breaking out between Israel and the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. In Israel, people are already stocking up on water and supplies, while in Lebanon there is mainly resignation.
Many people in the unstable and economically struggling country feel they cannot handle another crisis. Currently, there is neither a president nor a fully functional government in Lebanon.
According to US portal Politico, citing US intelligence sources, if there is no agreement on a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict between Israel and the Hamas, which is allied with Hezbollah, there is a high probability of a large-scale military confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah in the coming weeks. The United States, as Israel's main ally, could also be drawn into such a war. It is also possible that Iran will intervene on Hezbollah's side.
What is Hezbollah's connection to the Gaza War?
The cause of the Gaza War were massacres and hostage-takings by Palestinian terror organizations such as Hamas in Israel on October 7. The Lebanese Hezbollah acts in solidarity with Hamas, according to its own statements. The "Lebanon Front" is a "support front," as Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah repeatedly emphasized. It is part of the fight that will decide the fate of Palestine, Lebanon, and the region.
There have been nearly daily clashes between Israel and the Lebanese Shia militia for almost nine months. The latest clashes have been more intense. "Israel is killing increasingly high-ranking military commanders of Hezbollah," wrote the US think tank Washington Institute. On Thursday evening, Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets into northern Israel - according to the Shia militia, a response to the killing of one of their fighters earlier.
The Iran-backed Hezbollah militia is reportedly moving its rocket attacks on Israel further south into Lebanon, according to the think tank. A UN resolution passed after the war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006 states that Hezbollah fighters must remain at least 30 kilometers from the border with Israel and may not reside south of this line.
Hezbollah has an arsenal of around 150,000 rockets. In the event of war, it could fire thousands of rockets daily towards Israel. An artillery barrage could overwhelm Israel's rocket defense system.
The expansion of the conflict would be deadly and costly, according to the Washington Institute, but it admits: "Another war seems increasingly inevitable."
US officials are growing increasingly concerned that Israel may launch intensive air strikes and even a ground offensive in Lebanon in the coming weeks, reported the US network NBC.
The Israeli newspaper "Haaretz" reported on Thursday that the US had warned Israel that even a limited ground operation in southern Lebanon, to push back the Hezbollah from the border, could trigger a large-scale war with the Shia militia.
Pressure is growing in Israel
However, without a formal ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, it is unlikely that Hezbollah will fully surrender. Indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel's government, mediated by the US, Egypt, and Qatar, are stuck in a deadlock.
While Hezbollah has no urgency to make concessions, there is growing pressure in Israel, according to the Washington Institute, for residents of the north to return to their homes at the start of the new school year at the end of September.
Some 150,000 people have left or been evacuated from towns on both sides of the border. Without a diplomatic solution, Israel may be provoked to intensify its operations against Hezbollah to establish a buffer zone, writes the think tank. Damage from mutual shelling has caused heavy destruction in towns on both sides of the border.
According to the "Financial Times," Israel's military has destroyed wide areas of southern Lebanon and "created a new reality." Whole neighborhoods near the border have been leveled to the ground, and farmland has been destroyed, the newspaper reported on Thursday, citing satellite images, government statistics, and talks with local officials. Near-daily aerial bombardment and artillery fire have made large parts of the five-kilometer area north of the Blue Line uninhabitable.
De-escalation efforts by the US have not yet succeeded
The US is trying to prevent an escalation - without success so far. A plan by the Biden administration, according to the Washington Institute, involves Hezbollah withdrawing from the border and the deployment of several thousand soldiers from the Lebanese army in the area. At the same time, the troops of the UN observer mission UNIFIL, which has been unable to stop the advance of Hezbollah so far, should be supported by additional observers, possibly from Germany.
US not planning evacuation of citizens
The US is not planning an evacuation of its citizens from Lebanon. In response to a question about American citizens and dependents of the military who are in the country, the Pentagon's deputy spokesperson, Sabrina Singh, said "no."
Previously, the US network NBC reported, citing unnamed US sources, that the deployment of an additional US warship, the USS Wasp, to the Mediterranean had to do with the preparation for a possible evacuation. However, the US European Command had also informed about this planned deployment, confirmed Singh. This was, however, an already planned operation.
Singh declared that she had seen reporting on alleged evacuation scenarios, but pointed out that such ships are not only used for militarily supported evacuations. "They are in the region to ensure stability and prevent aggression."
Palestinians: Eleven Dead in Attack on Refugee Tents at Rafah
According to Palestinian reports, at least eleven people were killed and forty more were injured in an Israeli attack on a refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip. The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported this, citing hospital doctors. The information could not be independently verified at first.
The attack reportedly targeted tents in Al-Mawasi, west of the border city Rafah. Many people had fled there after the Israeli military began its offensive in the overcrowded city on the border with Egypt in early May. The Israeli army had declared parts of Al-Mawasi a "secure zone."
The Israeli army stated in response to an inquiry that it had no knowledge of an attack by Israeli troops in Al-Mawasi.
- The renewed attacks on northern Israel prompted the Israeli Air Force to strike positions of Hezbollah in South Lebanon, according to their statements.
- The pro-Iranian militia, Harakat el-Mukawame el-Islamije, attacked multiple targets in Israel, including military installations, with over 25 rockets and three drones.
- The conflicts in the Middle East continue to pose a threat, with tensions between Israel and the Palestinian territories escalating, as seen with the actions of Hamas.
- The US is closely watching the situation in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, as there is a high probability of a large-scale military confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah due to the Gaza conflict.
- The Israeli military bombardment of areas in south Lebanon has sparked concern about a new crisis in the region, especially considering the unstable political climate in Lebanon.
- The Egyptian Air Force has reportedly offered to assist Israel in the crisis, demonstrating the support of other Middle Eastern nations for Israel's security.
- Iran, a key supporter of Hezbollah, could potentially intervene in the conflict, adding another layer of complexity to an already volatile situation.
- In response to the crisis, NBC reported that US officials are growing increasingly concerned that Israel may launch intense air strikes and even a ground offensive in Lebanon in the coming weeks.
- The ongoing conflicts in the Palestinian territories and the Lebanon-Israel border have displaced over 150,000 people, causing heavy destruction and forcing many to seek refuge.
- The Middle East region remains in a state of crisis, with ongoing conflicts and tensions between various parties, including Israel, Hezbollah, Hamas, and Iran, posing significant challenges to regional stability.
