Major Escalation: Israel Accused of Deadly Strike in Beirut
Top Israelis have been looking to expand the war, with the U.S.'s backing
Israel conducted a drone attack in Beirut on Tuesday, which would be a major escalation in the conflict that could become a major regional war and led to a direct confrontation between the U.S. and Iran, which Israel wants.
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, promised to retaliate. Saleh Arouri, a top Hamas official along with three others were killed, the Associated Press reported.
Arouri told Al Jazeera Arabic last month that Hamas would not discuss a prisoner exchange deal until Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls off the genocide in Gaza, Middle East Eye reported.
"The resistance is ready for all the military scenarios," he said. "There is no fear or worry for the resistance. It will win."
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The report noted that Arouri spent 18 years in Israeli prison before being released in 2010 and deported to Syria.
Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s secretary-general, gave a televised speech in November and warned Israel that it is just a matter of time before it faces a muli-front conflict.
Nasrallah appealed to his followers to be patient.
“For those who say that Hezbollah should start a war in the entire region, I say wait,” he said. “These are just the beginnings. More actions will be taken against Israel from several different fronts.”
Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging missile fire since the beginning of the war in Gaza. Hezbollah has said if Lebanese civilians are killed in clashes, it will be considered a violation of the rules of engagement and it will retaliate by attacking civilian targets.
Lloyd Austin, the U.S. defense secretary, had a phone call with Israel’s top defense chief, Yoav Gallant, in November and raised concerns about a widening conflict.
Axios, citing sources briefed on the matter, reported that some officials in the White House are “worried that Israel is trying to provoke Hezbollah and create a pretext for a wider war in Lebanon that could draw the U.S. and other countries further into the conflict.”
Gallant indicated that he is willing to go to war with Hezbollah to push its “forces” south of the Litani River to the north before Israeli residents on the already stolen land there move back into their homes.
The Tuesday attack would be the boldest attack in Lebanon yet from Israel, according to The Hill.
Izzat Al-Rishq called the alleged bombing a “cowardly assassination” that “will not succeed in breaking the will and resilience of our people, or in undermining the continuity of its valiant resistance,” the report said.
Tzachi Hangebi, the Israeli national security advisor, said at the beginning of the conflict that Israel “can no longer accept Radwan force sitting on the border. We can no longer accept Resolution 1701 not being implemented.”
The Atlantic Council reported in 2020 that there is uncertainty “over where exactly Lebanon ends, and Israel begins.” Over the summer, Middle East Eye reported that tensions were running high ever since “the Israeli army finished building a wall in July incorporating the northern part of Al-Ghajar village in the occupied Golan Heights.”
TRENDPOST: It is worth noting that from the U.S. to the Middle East, the Israel War is being called a religious war and a holy war.