Senior officials of the US Government fear that the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, could expand the current conflict in Gaza to a full-scale war against Hezbollah in Lebanon to try to extend his political life amid the wave of criticism received for the slowness of the response. of security to the massacres of the Palestinian militias of October 7.
What's more, a firm conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, far beyond the artillery exchanges that they have been carrying out for months on the border, could end up surpassing the capacity of the Israeli Army, according to an Intelligence report collected by 'The Washington Post', a medium that also reflects the concerns of North American officials.
In the midst of this situation, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, arrives in Israel tomorrow, Monday, with the fundamental objective of “preventing this conflict from expanding,” the diplomat announced in a video published this Sunday; an idea that his spokesperson, Matt Miller, commented at the beginning of the regional tour that the secretary undertook on Friday and that today took him to Jordan.
«That the conflict extends beyond Gaza does not benefit anyone. “Not to Israel, not to the region, not to the entire world,” the spokesperson declared. “The problem is that this opinion is not uniformly shared by the Israeli Government,” he added.
Within the Biden Administration there are two theories regarding the “fundamental changes” that Netanyahu has promised in relation to the fighting against Hezbollah: some see it as a 'bluff' to achieve concessions from the Lebanese Shiite militia party, but others They are convinced, the newspaper reports, “that if the Gaza war ends tomorrow, their political career will do so with it,” hence a possible deliberate plan to expand the conflict.
In fact, thousands of people demonstrated this Saturday in the streets of Tel Aviv to ask for an early election in Israel and have demanded elections to be held “immediately”, according to the newspaper 'The Times of Israel'.
Approximately 20,000 people gathered in the city according to data from the organizers of the protests collected by the same media. The main demonstration took place in Habima Square, although smaller congregations have also been recorded in other locations, such as Haifa or the northern coastal city of Caesarea, where protesters have protested near Netanyahu's home.
«The necessary measures»
In response, government sources have limited themselves to commenting that the prime minister “will continue to take the necessary measures to guarantee the security of Israel and its future.”
In this sense, US officials have emphasized that the expansion of the conflict to Lebanon could have serious consequences for the Israeli Army. The Defense Intelligence Agency report notes in particular that the Air Force is fully occupied with the offensive in Gaza.
“The pilots are tired and the planes must be maintained and reconditioned, according to another of the 'Post' sources, “and they would face more dangerous missions in Lebanon than in Gaza, where Hamas has few anti-aircraft defenses to shoot down attacking planes.”
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