There is no de-escalation in sight in the Middle East conflict. Hezbollah and Israel are firing rockets at each other. A video on social media is now attracting attention.
Nazareth – The situation in the Middle East threatens to escalate. Since Sunday morning, the Hezbollah and Israel are attacking each other with rockets, cruise missiles and drones. The Israeli government wants to protect its population from Hezbollah attacks and secure the north of the country for the displaced Israelis. To this end, the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army (IDF), Herzi Halevi, announced that the attacks on the south of Lebanon would be intensified.
“The price Hezbollah is paying has increased, our attacks will increase,” the Times of Israel Halevi from a video message. While the international community is uncertain whether an open war between Israel and Hezbollah is imminent, some people are dealing with the tragic situation differently.
Israel at war with Lebanon: Controversial video from Nazareth
A video from Nazareth, the Israeli city with the largest number of Arab Israelis, is circulating on the Internet. Residents are posing laughing with parts of a rocket. According to captions on Instagram The protagonists of the video are said to be Israeli citizens of Arab-Palestinian origin.
The video was shared and commented on several times on social media. For comparison, the video was edited with another one. The second video is said to show Israeli Jews in a nearby town. In the video, the sky is filmed, which is lit up by rockets and the Iron Dome defense system, and a woman can be heard screaming and crying in the background. The description of the edit reads in English and Arabic: “Palestinians from Nazareth take pictures with a Lebanese rocket and settlers scream in a nearby settlement.”
The Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz writes about the videos: “Amid Hezbollah’s rockets, cruise missiles and drones, many Palestinian citizens of Israel are parodying the attack on social media.”
The online reactions to the rocket attacks by Israel and Hezbollah are different
“This is not heroism, this is not a joke, and this is not material for filming,” Baker Zoubi, a journalist based in Nazareth, wrote in a caption under a photo on the social media platform Instagram. The photo shows a group of men who, contrary to Home Front Command guidelines, were in open areas and taking pictures of the rocket salvos and interceptors of the Iron Dome air defense system.
In his post, Zoubi condemns this behavior and refers to the 2006 Lebanon War – the fighting between Hezbollah and Israel at the time. The conflict cost the lives of around 1,500 people, 19 of them Arabs. “It is also our reckless attitude. We go outside to watch the rockets, to photograph them, and although we have paid for this recklessness with our blood, many of us remain unchanged.”
Hezbollah attacks: Arab residents of Israel without adequate protection from rockets
According to the National Committee of Arab Local Authorities, Arab residents in Israel are particularly at risk from Hezbollah attacks, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported. It is estimated that about 40 to 50 percent of Arab urban residents do not have access to emergency shelters or safe spaces.
In an interview with the radio station Nas, journalist Ali Al-Zibaq described a personal experience: As he was taking his son to a bunker, debris from an intercepted rocket hit their house, pierced the roof and landed on his son’s empty bed. “When the sirens sound, we must not underestimate the danger,” warned Al-Zibaq. “It is of utmost importance to follow the safety regulations.”
Attacks in Lebanon: Iran warns Israel of “dangerous consequences”
Following intensive air strikes in Lebanon, the Israeli government has declared a nationwide state of emergency in anticipation of retaliation. Nevertheless, several ministers in the Israeli security cabinet spoke out in favor of continuing the attacks on Hezbollah, according to Israeli broadcaster Keshet 12 reported, citing confidential sources. The ministers apparently stressed that the current situation must be exploited. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supports this strategy and believes that military pressure on Hezbollah will speed up negotiations on a hostage exchange with the Hamas could accelerate.
Iran responded to the Israeli attacks on Hezbollah militia positions in Lebanon with a clear warning of “dangerous consequences”. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani described the Israeli air strikes on Monday as “insane” and warned of a “serious threat to regional and international peace”. Iranian President Massoud Peseschkian accused Israel of aiming for a “larger conflict”. (lw)
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