Israel’s ground offensive continues with ‘micro-attacks’ in the Gaza Strip, with clashes with Hamas men, while raids continue to pound the territory of the enclave. The front with Lebanon remains unstable, between Hezbollah rocket launches and responses from the Israeli armed forces.
The last 24 hours of the conflict that is inflaming the Middle East are being archived with operations conducted in particular in the north of the Gaza Strip. The strategy, according to American sources cited by the Times of Israel, involves raids in relatively limited areas. A large-scale operation that could further endanger the lives of the 239 hostages – according to the latest data – held captive in Gaza is not planned for the moment. This approach is in line with the White House’s vision: President Joe Biden’s administration, according to the Israeli newspaper, is skeptical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s still vague vision of the post-conflict Gaza Strip.
Clashes with Hamas in the north of the Strip
The Defense Forces (IDF) have had several direct confrontations with Hamas units and report having eliminated “many terrorists”. In one case, the IDF said, the Israeli military confronted a group of militiamen who emerged from a tunnel in the Erez crossing area. Deaths and injuries were recorded in the fighting, as well as in other clashes. The IDF also reported that it had requested the intervention of the Air Force to conduct drone raids against two Hamas hideouts.
“The terrorists who shot at the soldiers were killed, as were the terrorists who were identified on the coast in the Gaza Strip near the Zikim area,” read a Defense Forces post on Telegram. The IDF’s statements came after information released by the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas: the militiamen also reported clashes with Israeli forces near Beit Lahia, in the north of the Strip.
The border with Lebanon remains hot. The Israel Defense Forces conducted raids in response to the firing of ten rockets into the northern part of the Jewish state. One of the rockets hit a building in Kiryat Shmona, causing no casualties. The Israelis attacked Hezbollah targets, hitting terrorist and military infrastructure.
Hezbollah and strategy: what the Party of God does
Hezbollah, meanwhile, has no intention of reducing its role in the conflict: “We understand you, but we cannot accept the fall of Hamas”, is the message to the Beirut government, which is putting pressure on the Shiite militia not to intensify attacks against Israel . This was revealed by an informed Lebanese source, quoted by the Washington Post, who speaks of the talks that “all Western countries, through their ambassadors, are having with us, to say that Hezbollah must not go to war”.
And in fact the Party of God supported by Iran finds itself faced with the ‘dilemma’ of whether to ease the attacks it carries out from Lebanon against northern Israel or ignite the dust of escalation. Since October 7, the day of the devastating Hamas attacks on the Jewish state, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has remained silent. Except for appearing a few days ago on the occasion of a meeting – which in reality is not clear when it took place – with the number two of Hamas, Saleh al-Arouri, and the head of Islamic Jihad, Ziad al-Nakhalah.
And in fact, according to the American newspaper, the pressure exerted by members of the Beirut government has meant that the group has so far refrained from broader clashes with Israel. “Now is not the time,” the source emphasizes. A ‘prudence’ that disappoints Hamas: In recent days, Musa Abu Marzouq, a member of the Palestinian group’s political office, told the pan-Arab broadcaster Orient: “Unfortunately there is no coordination” with Hezbollah. And he called on the group to intensify the attacks: “We expected the commitment to be much higher than what is happening now. We invite them to greater participation.” But the more days pass without public comments from Nasrallah, the more his silence becomes noticeable, arousing the ire of even followers who support calls for “resistance” against Israel.
Hezbollah has adopted “a gradual escalation with Israeli forces – observes Mohanad Hage Ali, researcher in Beirut at the Carnegie Middle East Center – Today the rules of engagement are within a limited geographical region”. But Hezbollah could intensify its attacks if Israeli ground forces enter Gaza massively. According to the expert, the group “clearly considers this as an existential conflict and from this point of view, the only viable path is that of a ‘gradual escalation to try to avoid a wider conflict.”
Lebanon and its population “cannot afford a new conflict in the midst of state collapse and a disastrous economic situation”, a Western source told the Washington Post, revealing contacts with officials in Beirut and with Hezbollah, who were asked to “refrain from any type of escalation from the border and to generally keep Lebanon away from the ongoing conflict in Gaza.”
“Official Lebanon does not want a war – Information Minister Ziad Makary summarized in a television interview – But we are aware that the front could always explode at any moment”.
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