The Middle East is on the brink after a massive attack on Hezbollah blew up the pagers of thousands of its militants, just hours after the Israeli prime minister vowed to step up military action against Lebanon.
While Israel has not confirmed that it is behind the pager explosions, left some 2,800 Hezbollah members and civilians wounded and nine dead in Lebanon and Syria – Several security sources have blamed the IDF and The Mossad spy agency was responsible for the attack.
Hostile rhetoric from both sides was growing even before the explosions amid ongoing protests.The crossfire between Lebanon and Israel has intensified over the past year, as Hezbollah continues to attack Israel in a show of support for its allies, Hamas, in Gaza.
Meanwhile, reports have emerged that Benjamin Netanyahu is set to fire his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, who is widely regarded as the most vocal government minister pushing for a ceasefire deal in Gaza to free Israeli hostages.
This means the prospect of a ceasefire in Gaza appears increasingly remote as tensions rise on Israel’s northern border and Netanyahu appears to be pushing for a wider escalation.
Reports have emerged that Benjamin Netanyahu is set to fire his defense minister, Yoav Gallant.
Ambulances arrive at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) yesterday
Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on the village of Blida in southern Lebanon, as seen from an undisclosed location in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, September 17.
The sudden and unexpected explosions triggered widespread panic and chaotic scenes in images shared on social media and broadcast by Lebanese and Israeli media.
Over the weekend, Israel’s prime minister called for a “change in the balance of forces on our northern border” amid near-daily Hezbollah attacks, while vowing to do “whatever it takes” to get evacuated residents back to their homes.
Israel has been stepping up preparations for a war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, confronting the Iran-backed militant group to improve security in its northern region.
Netanyahu portrays it as an existential war for Israel and has argued that now is not the time to show weakness, defying calls for restraint and compromise even from within his war cabinet.
The prime minister’s office has been spreading the message that while he is pushing for further confrontation with Hezbollah, retired military general Gallant is against it, according to Israeli outlet Haaertz.
Michael Milshtein, a leading scholar of Palestinian studies at Tel Aviv University, said Gallant “doesn’t want a broad escalation,” but that Netanyahu ‘is considering it’.
In an expansion of Israel’s official war aims on Tuesday, Netanyahu announced that his forces will now aim to stop Hezbollah attacks in the north to allow tens of thousands of residents to return to their homes along the border.
When news of the plans emerged, Amos Hochstein, a top adviser to the Biden administration, warned Netanyahu against starting a broader war against Lebanon, sources told Axios.
That same day, Gallant told a visiting U.S. military envoy that “military action” is the “only path left to ensure the return of Israel’s northern communities.”
Netanyahu’s office has been spreading the message that while he is pushing for further confrontation with Hezbollah, retired military general Gallant is against it, according to reports.
Hezbollah and Israeli forces have clashed almost daily for more than 11 months, with clashes that left hundreds dead in Lebanon and dozens in Israel, and displaced tens of thousands on both sides of the border.
Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem has insisted that his group has “no intention of going to war” but warned that if Israel were to “unleash” one, “there will be heavy losses on both sides.”
He added that if Israel expands its “aggression,” instead of allowing some 100,000 displaced people to return to their homes, it should “prepare to deal with hundreds of thousands more displaced people.”
Tensions have since escalated further following Tuesday’s pager explosions, with The militant group vowed revenge and warned its arch-enemy that he should “wait for the response to the massacre.”
The Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept an attack from Lebanon on the Galilee region near Kiryat Shmona, as seen from the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, Tuesday, September 17, 2024.
Fawaz Gerges, professor of international relations at the LSE, described it as “one of the biggest security breaches” ever suffered by Hezbollah, which he said was now plotting revenge.
‘I don’t think we can expect any major retaliation in the coming hours or days, Hezbollah will take its time and assess the implications.
“In my view, Hezbollah faces a huge strategic dilemma, because while it feels compelled to retaliate, it does not really want to unleash an all-out war.”
But, he added, Israel is more prepared to widen the conflict. “This is the first shot in Israel’s all-out war against Hezbollah,” he said.
Police officers inspect a car inside which a portable pager exploded, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, September 17, 2024
The remains of what is believed to be a pager carried by a Lebanese militant that detonated earlier today
‘Israel has really been provoking Hezbollah, it has been putting pressure on Hezbollah, and this attack is not just a psychological attack, it is a major and catastrophic security attack against Hezbollah.
He added that he doubted Hezbollah would attack civilians in Israel, despite the growing rhetoric.
‘Hezbollah’s primary strategic objective is to avoid all-out war, because both Iran and Hezbollah believe that Israel is trying to draw them into all-out war, not only against Israel but against its Western allies, who have an extraordinary navy.’
Meanwhile, the United States and Britain have called for de-escalation and “calm” in the powder keg region.
“We continue to closely monitor the situation in Lebanon and the UK is working with diplomatic and humanitarian partners in the region,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.
“The civilian casualties resulting from these explosions are deeply worrying. We urge calm and de-escalation at this critical time.”
Hezbollah’s leadership said in a defiant statement: “The resistance will continue today, like any other day, its operations to support Gaza, its people and its resistance, which is a separate path from the harsh punishment that the criminal enemy (Israel) must expect in response to Tuesday’s massacre.”