The conflict between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia continues to escalate. A diplomatic solution seems increasingly unlikely. The USA is warning of an escalation.
The signs of a potentially impending major war between Israel and the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah are increasing. According to his office, Israel’s Defense Minister Joav Galant said at a meeting with US mediator Amos Hochstein that the only way to ensure the return of Israeli refugees to their homes in the north was “a military operation.” Israel’s security cabinet declared overnight that the return of the residents was one of the goals of the war against Hamas, an ally of Hezbollah, in the Gaza Strip. Israel will continue to work “towards the implementation of this goal,” the Prime Minister’s office said.
Until now, Israel’s war aims have been to destroy the military capabilities and government apparatus of the Islamist Hamas, to free all hostages and to ensure that the Gaza Strip no longer poses a threat to Israel. The pro-Iranian Hezbollah has been shelling Israel since the Gaza war began almost a year ago. It will only silence its weapons once a ceasefire has been reached in Gaza.
Israel demands Hezbollah withdrawal
Israel wants Hezbollah militias to withdraw to the area north of the Litani River, 30 kilometers from the border. After the last major war with Israel in 2006, a UN resolution stipulated that Hezbollah fighters were not allowed to stay south of this line. However, over the years the militias have gradually returned to the border area while UN peacekeepers watched helplessly.
Pressure is mounting on Israel’s right-wing conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow tens of thousands of Israeli refugees to return to their homes. Right-wing Israelis are demanding that the Israeli security zone in southern Lebanon, which was evacuated in 2000, be re-established to protect them.
US Secretary of State travels to Egypt
Against this backdrop, the US government is trying to revive talks on a ceasefire in Gaza – also in the hope that an agreement between Israel and Hezbollah would pave the way for de-escalation. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is now travelling to Egypt again to push forward the faltering efforts for a ceasefire in the Gaza war and the release of the hostages held by Hamas.
Blinken will hold talks with Egyptian government representatives from today until Thursday, the US State Department announced. The US, together with Egypt and Qatar, is acting as a mediator between Israel and Hamas, as they are not negotiating directly with each other. According to media reports, Blinken will not travel to Israel this time. The US is the Jewish state’s most important ally.
USA seeks diplomatic solution
Israel’s Defense Minister Galant said at his meeting with US mediator Hochstein that the possibility of a diplomatic solution to the conflict with Hezbollah was becoming increasingly remote because the militia had tied its fate to Hamas and refused to end the conflict. Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu also said at a meeting with Hochstein that the residents of the border region could not return “without a fundamental change in the security situation in the north.”
Hochstein has been trying for months to de-escalate the extremely dangerous situation on the border between Israel and Lebanon. According to Israeli and US media, Hochstein warned top Israeli politicians about the dangerous consequences of a larger war that could spread further into the region.
A diplomatic solution is “the best way” to ensure that citizens on both sides of the border can return to their homes, said US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller. We will “continue to push for a diplomatic solution,” he said. “We fundamentally believe that this is in the interest of all parties.”
Hezbollah reportedly has around 150,000 rockets, drones and cruise missiles. Compared to the last open war with Israel in 2006, it has expanded its arsenal by around ten times and, according to experts, could hit Israel much harder. Similar to Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Hezbollah has built an underground tunnel system in Lebanon from which the militia could conduct its fighting. It could fire thousands of rockets at Israeli cities every day and take out important infrastructure. But such a war would have serious consequences not only for Israel, but also for economically and politically troubled Lebanon.
Iran: Israel wants to involve us in regional war
Iranian President Massoud Peseschkian accuses Israel of wanting to drag his country into a regional war. He cited the killing of Hamas’ foreign chief Ismail Haniya in the Iranian capital Tehran a good six weeks ago as the reason. “Israel is trying to involve us in a regional war by killing Haniya. We reserve the right to defend ourselves (…),” said Peseschkian at his first press conference after taking office.
He reiterated that the Islamic Republic is not seeking nuclear weapons and at the same time defended his country’s missile program. “If we do not have missiles, they (Israel) will bomb us at any time, like in Gaza,” said the head of government. “We will not give up our defense capability.”
Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, the USA and Israel have been considered Tehran’s arch-enemies. Groups hostile to Israel, such as Hamas and Hezbollah, are supported by Tehran. Since the outbreak of the Gaza War almost a year ago, the region has been threatened with conflagration.
The Gaza war was triggered by the massacre in Israel on October 7 last year by terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups, which left more than 1,200 people dead. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, more than 41,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began. The number does not differentiate between civilians and fighters and is difficult to verify independently.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
