Major airlines have canceled flights to Israel and Lebanon. Several countries are now evacuating their diplomats and asking their citizens to leave Beirut. The US is sending additional fighter jets and warships to the Middle East. Fears of full-scale war in the region are increasing, and Lebanon may be on the front line. Demonstrators gathered in Sidon in Lebanon before the weekend to condemn the murder of Haniyeh and Shukr. Photo: Alkis Konstantinidis / Reuters Because even if Lebanon is not in direct conflict with Israel, the Lebanese Hezbollah group is. They are supported by Iran, and together they prepare to respond to Israel after they received two hard blows in a short time last week. On the evening of Tuesday 30 June, Hezbollah’s military leader Fuad Shukr was killed in an Israeli drone attack in the Lebanese capital Beirut. The following morning, Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli drone attack in the Iranian capital Tehran. Now the region is holding its breath while waiting for Iran’s counterattack. . Could come within a day US Foreign Minister Antony Blinken is said to have told the other foreign ministers of the G7 countries that an Iranian attack on Israel could start as early as Monday. That’s what Axios writes based on closed sources. – They are on intelligence, so it shows that the threat is precarious, says PRIO researcher Jørgen Jensehaugen. According to Axios’ sources, Blinken should not have said anything about what they think the expected counterattack will look like. This is what it looked like shortly after an Israeli drone sent out two missiles that slammed into an apartment building in Dahieh, south of Beirut. The attack claimed the life of Hezbollah commander Shukr. Photo: – / AFP Iran has itself said that it will not announce retaliation in advance, as it has done in the past. Jensehaugen thinks we can see everything from a rocket attack to a coordinated attack from Hezbollah, the Houthis and Iran. – It is a high-risk game for all parties now, he says. Iran supports the Lebanese militia Hezbollah and the Yemeni rebel group the Houthis as part of its regional power play. You can read more about this “axis of resistance” here: Balancing on a knife’s edge Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday evening that Israel is already fighting a war on several fronts against Iran. But both Israel, Hezbollah and Iran have said that they do not want a war. A spokesperson for the Iranian government says on Monday morning that they do not want an escalation, but that they “are forced to punish Israel”. – The punishment will prevent more instability, says the spokesperson, according to Reuters. But Hezbollah is balancing on a knife’s edge, Jensehaugen explains. At the same time as they want to avoid war, they must show strength towards Israel. – You can be as restrained as you want, but as long as you are involved in an escalation of violence, it will tip over at one point or another anyway, says Jensehaugen. On Saturday 27 July, 12 children and young people from the Druze community in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights were killed by a rocket from Hezbollah. Photo: Hassan Shams / AP He singled out the rocket attack against Majdal Shams in the occupied Golan Heights at the end of July as an example. 12 children were killed when a rocket hit a football pitch. Israel has blamed Hezbollah for being behind it. – It shows that the risk is so great that you can create an escalation that you yourself might not want. How Hezbollah and Iran will respond to the two attacks last week is a point of uncertainty. Another thing is how Israel will respond to that again. – They will pay dearly for it if they dare to attack us, wrote Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on X yesterday. Several countries are trying to calm down At the same time that the USA is sending more military equipment to Israel, they are trying to put pressure on both Israel and Iran to avoid an escalation in the conflict. Several Arab and Western countries are now stepping in with heavy diplomacy to calm the situation. Demonstrations against the murder of Haniyeh at the Israeli embassy in Amman, the capital of Jordan. Photo: Alaa Al Sukhni / Reuters Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi was in Tehran on Sunday to discuss the situation with his Iranian counterpart Ali Bagheri Kani. It is the first time in over 20 years that a high-ranking Jordanian politician has officially visited Iran. Jordan is closely allied with the West. When Iran sent 300 missiles and drones at Israel in April, the Jordanians helped shoot them down. – Disproportionate warfare The fear is that Israel’s war against Palestinian militants in Gaza will expand into a larger regional war. The war began in October last year, after the terrorist attack against Israeli civilians on 7 October. In the attack, more than 1,200 Israelis were killed, and 111 were taken to Gaza as hostages. Despite the tense situation in Israel, tens of thousands turned out for demonstrations against the Netanyahu government at the weekend. They want to see that the prime minister reaches an agreement with Hamas on the release of the hostages. Photo: OREN ZIV / AFP Israel’s subsequent military offensive against Gaza has cost at least 40,000 Palestinians their lives and displaced almost 2 million people from their homes, according to the local health authorities and the UN. – There is a general pattern with Israel’s warfare. He is very disproportionate in his speech, says Jensehaugen. A crying young woman holds a child after an Israeli attack that hit a refugee tent in the backyard of the Al Aqsa hospital in the Gaza Strip at the weekend. Photo: EYAD BABA / AFP He believes the same will apply to a war between Hezbollah and Israel. – Israel will crack down hard on all escalations. It will go hard beyond Lebanon. The war continues in the Gaza Strip On Sunday, the Israeli military carried out several simultaneous attacks against two schools where Palestinian refugees were staying. A journalist from Al Jazeera was there when the attack took place, and reported that among the at least 30 killed, most were children. The IDF confirmed the attack on the Al-Nassr and Hassan Salama schools on Telegram, and claimed that militants from Hamas were hiding there. Palestinians search for survivors in the ruins of the Al-Nassr school. The Al-Nassr and Hassan Salama schools house displaced Palestinians. On Sunday they were bombed by Israel. Photo: OMAR AL-QATTAA / AFP The assassination attempt against Ismail Haniyeh could put a stop to negotiations on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. It was Haniyeh who represented Hamas in the negotiations with Israel. Published 05/08/2024, at 11.57
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Fears that Iran will attack Israel within 24 hours – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
