Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the country is at war after Hamas’ attack on Saturday. – We are at war, and we will win. The enemy will pay a price they have never experienced before, Netanyahu said in a statement. Several have condemned the attacks. NATO calls it a terrorist attack. Injured people are transported out of the city of Sderot in Israel, close to the border with Gaza. Photo: MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP One of the most renowned Middle East experts in Lebanon, Makram Rabah, believes the consequence will be an invasion of Gaza. – This is a very serious attack. It reminds everyone that extremism breeds more extremism, says Rabah to news. – Will cease to exist Rabah believes the fighting will last a long time. – I think the military confrontations will last for a month or so, but this is a new status-quo that could last for the next decade. Middle East expert Makram Rabah at the American University of Beirut fears the fighting could last a month, and change the balance in the Middle East for a long time to come. In it, he adds that Israel will probably crack down hard on the attacks by Hamas. – Unfortunately, I think this will lead to an invasion from the Israeli side, and an occupation of Gaza. Gaza as we know it will cease to exist, says Rabah, who teaches at the American University of Beirut (AUB). Pointing to talks with Saudi Arabia, Rabah says many will see today’s attacks as 1973 repeating itself. The attack on Saturday takes place on the day 50 years after Syria and Egypt launched a surprise attack on Israel, in what is known as the Yom Kippur War in 1973. – Why is Hamas attacking now? – Hamas feels that more and more Arab leaders have turned their backs on the Palestine issue. Even Saudi Arabia is in talks with Israel right now. We therefore cannot rule out that they are attacking now to sabotage the negotiations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Hamas will put the occupation of Palestine back on the agenda, says Rabah. Hamas has killed civilians in Israel. Photo: AFP Researcher Cecilie Hellestveit at the Folkerettsinstituttet points to the same thing. – Hamas can do this to sabotage Saudi-Israeli talks, she says to news. Hellestveit says the attack is unique in a historical context. – This is the most dramatic thing that has happened in Israel in the last fifty years. It is the first time since 1949 that Palestinians have control over Israeli areas. It could make Israel take decisions it has not taken before. Hezbollah attacks Senior lecturer and Middle East expert Dag Henrik Tuastad at the University of Oslo (UiO) wonders if the Hamas attack is part of a larger plan. – This has clearly been planned by the armed part of Hamas for a very long time. The question is whether this is part of something bigger, and whether it is coordinated with Hezbollah in Lebanon, says Tuastad to news. Smoke rises from a village in southern Lebanon, Sunday, October 8. Photo: AZIZ TAHER / Reuters On Sunday, Hezbollah confirms that it has carried out attacks against areas on the Israeli-Lebanese border. – Nazrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, has previously said that they can occupy the Galilee. It is not more than half a year ago that there was a guy who was wandering around a roundabout in northern Israel, and people did not understand how he had got in. It was clearly a “trial balloon” from Hezbollah, says Tuastad. Iran supports the attacks While most condemn the attacks, Iran supports Hamas’s operation. – We congratulate the Palestinian fighters. We will stand by the Palestinian fighters until Palestine and Jerusalem are liberated, says an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader. Iran’s state TV channel has shown images of members of the Iranian parliament standing up and shouting “death to Israel” and “Palestine wins, Israel will be destroyed”. That is written by Reuters. People take in impressions from the damage after Israeli rocket attacks on the Gaza Strip. Photo: MOHAMMED ABED / AFP Middle East expert Rabah believes the attack may have come at the request of Iran. – I think the reason why Hamas did this is that they were encouraged, or even ordered to do so, by Iran, says Rabah. Iran has helped Hamas in recent years, including by smuggling in weapons and equipment. news has presented the allegations from Rabah to the Iranian embassy in Oslo. The embassy has sent a longer document signed by spokesperson Nasser Kanaani in the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Iran’s embassy in Norway does not comment on the claims by Middle East expert Rabah that Iran may have encouraged or ordered the Hamas attack. Photo: Tom Balgaard / Tom Balgaard/news The document does not counter the claims from Rabah or answer news’s questions, but it says, among other things: – Operation “al-Aqsa Flood” was a spontaneous move by the resistance groups and the oppressed Palestinian people in defense of their inalienable and inalienable rights. Although the attack apparently came directly at Israel, several have pointed out that such an operation must have taken a long time to plan and coordinate.
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Expert fears invasion of Gaza – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
