Politics Powder keg Middle East: Israel attacks on several fronts
As Israel's army intensifies its air strikes against Iran's allied militias in Lebanon, the Gaza Strip and Yemen, fears of a full-scale war in the Middle East are growing. When asked by reporters whether this could still be avoided, US President Joe Biden replied: "It must be avoided. It really must be avoided." He said he wanted to talk to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Meanwhile, the latter had his army attack another command center of the Islamist Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah militia positions in Lebanon during the night.
30.09.2024, 05:41
SDA
Israel is increasing the pressure on Hezbollah to stop its attacks and withdraw from the border area. According to media reports, hundreds of people have been killed by Israeli attacks in Lebanon over the past two weeks during the latest escalation. No one was killed in Israel during the same period.
Meanwhile, according to the Israeli army, dozens of fighter jets also bombed targets around 1,800 kilometers away in Yemen, including power plants and a port through which the Houthi militia is said to have transported Iranian weapons and military supplies. The information could not be independently verified. According to eyewitnesses, the port city of Hudaida was rocked by explosions. The Huthi-affiliated TV station Al-Masirah reported four deaths. Like Hezbollah, the Houthi militia also repeatedly attacks Israel - according to its own statements out of solidarity with Hamas, against which Israel has been waging war for almost a year.
Meanwhile, three days of mourning begin today in Lebanon for Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed by a targeted Israeli air strike in a suburb of Beirut on Friday. However, the Shiite militia has not yet released any information about his funeral. There also appears to be no successor for Nasrallah as yet.
Concerns about a possible ground offensive in Lebanon
There is growing concern that Israel's army could launch a ground offensive in the south of the neighboring country. Following the killing of Nasrallah, Israel's army chief Herzi Halevi hinted at this possibility on Saturday. He had approved plans for the northern command of the armed forces. "Challenging days lie ahead," he said. The Israeli army is "on high alert, both defensively and offensively, on all fronts". It is prepared for what comes next.
Experts speak of a possible "trap" that Israel could fall into. Despite the death of Nasrallah and almost the entire top leadership, Hezbollah still has thousands of experienced fighters and an extensive arsenal of weapons with which it could inflict considerable losses on Israel's troops in its southern Lebanese strongholds on prepared terrain, wrote the Wall Street Journal. Hezbollah cannot wait for Israel to invade southern Lebanon, the newspaper quoted a former Israeli member of parliament and current employee of the Atlantic Council think tank.
An Israeli ground offensive could help Hezbollah to rise "from the ashes" and regain the support of broad Lebanese society, it said. Israel's commanders are aware of the danger of ground fighting, the newspaper wrote. The political problem, however, is that Israel's declared war goal - the return of 60,000 Israelis who were displaced from areas along the border by Hezbollah attacks - can hardly be achieved with air strikes alone.
Lebanon: up to one million displaced persons possible
Up to one million people could be displaced in Lebanon as a result of Israel's attacks, according to acting Prime Minister Nadschib Mikati. This is already the largest number of displaced persons in the country's history, Mikati said in Beirut. There can only be a diplomatic solution to the current conflict with Israel: "There is no choice for us but diplomacy." According to UN figures, more than 210,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon since the start of the new confrontations, including around 120,000 people in the course of last week alone.
However, according to the United Nations, the number could be significantly higher, also based on the experience of the last war with Israel in 2006. 50,000 Syrians and Lebanese have also fled to the neighboring civil war country of Syria. Despite the recent massive Israeli strikes, the Hezbollah militia has so far refused to stop shelling Israel until Israel's government agrees to a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Expert: Iran faces a dilemma
The dramatic weakening of the Hezbollah militia puts the Islamic Republic of Iran in a "very difficult position", the Wall Street Journal quoted Michael Horowitz, head of the intelligence department at the consulting firm Le Beck International. The Lebanese militia is "an important part of Iran's defense doctrine and its most important deterrent against Israel". Iran is now faced with the dilemma of possibly having to defend Hezbollah, they said. Against this backdrop, the Houthi militia in Yemen could become even more important for Iran in its so-called "axis of resistance", with which Tehran is fighting against its declared arch-enemy Israel.
According to the military, Israel's airstrike on Yemen was carried out in response to the latest Houthi attacks. On Saturday evening, another missile alert was triggered in the coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv due to a missile. The militia declared that it had attacked Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv with a ballistic missile. However, according to the military, this was intercepted before reaching Israeli territory.
Israel's air force last attacked Yemen at the end of July. The target then was also the port of Hudaida in response to a deadly Houthi drone attack on Tel Aviv. Meanwhile, the Israeli army said it had again attacked a Hamas command center in northern Gaza from the air, which was located on the site of a former school, as the army announced last night. Numerous measures had been taken before the attack to reduce the danger to civilians. The information could not initially be independently verified. According to the army, it also attacked other Hezbollah militia positions in the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon.
