The "schizophrenia" of Hezbollah in the fight against Israel
Following Hamas' devastating terrorist attack on Israel, confrontations with the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia, which operates from Lebanon, are also occurring again and again on the Israeli-Lebanese border. Observers are talking about the most serious escalation since the second Lebanon war in 2006. How volatile is the situation and what role does Lebanon play in the war between Israel and Hamas? Two Middle East experts discuss this in the latest episode of the "Wirtschaft Welt & Weit" podcast.
Ralf Erbel, Lebanon expert at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, analyzes the mindset of Hezbollah in this podcast episode - and speaks of "schizophrenia": on the one hand, the militia is trying to maintain the image of a "fearless - in its self-perception - resistance movement against Israel". On the other hand, however, it does not want to get involved in a further escalation. This would risk the destruction of Lebanon. Middle East expert Andreas Böhm sums it up as follows: "Israel would paralyze Lebanon's vital infrastructure. And this threat must be taken seriously."
So how great is the danger of a spiral of violence that involves Lebanon even more deeply than before? Host Mary Abdelaziz-Ditzow discusses this with Ralf Erbel and Andreas Böhm in the new podcast episode.
Andreas Böhm is a Middle East expert at the University of St. Gallen and has been working on Lebanon for many years. And Ralf Erbel, who is half-Lebanese, is currently head of the MENA and Sub-Saharan Africa department at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation. Previously, he was responsible for the foundation's work in Lebanon from the Jordanian capital Amman.
- Despite Hezbollah's role as a resistance movement against Israel, they are cautious about escalating the conflict further in Lebanon, as Middle East expert Andreas Böhm noted, due to the risk of Israel paralyzing Lebanon's vital infrastructure.
- The tensions between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip have led to frequent confrontations with Hezbollah along the Israeli-Lebanese border, causing concerns about a potential escalation, as observed by Ralf Erbel, Lebanon expert at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation.
- Hamas' attack on Israel has once again brought Hezbollah's complex stance towards the Israeli conflict into focus, as the militia seeks to balance its image as a resistant force while avoiding further involvement in a potentially destructive war for Lebanon, as highlighted by both Ralf Erbel and Andreas Böhm.
Source: www.ntv.de
