In view of ongoing attacks from its northern neighbor, Israel issued sharp warnings to Lebanon in the evening. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had warned the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah.
“Don’t make the mistake of joining the war. That would be the mistake of your life,” said the head of government. “Your entry into the war will seal the fate of Lebanon.”
Israeli Defense Minister Joav Galant said that on his country’s northern border, “provocations have turned into aggression.” He warned: “Hezbollah is playing with fire.”
Galant emphasized that most of the Israeli Air Force is no longer involved in the Gaza Strip. The noses of the aircraft are now pointing north. “The citizens of Lebanon must know that if (Hezbollah leader Hassan) Nasrallah makes a mistake, the fate of Beirut could be like the fate of Gaza.”
The situation on the border with Lebanon is getting worse
Since the beginning of the Gaza war on October 7th after a massacre by Hamas in Israel and subsequent counterattacks by Israel, the situation on the border with Lebanon has continued to deteriorate. It is the worst escalation since the second Lebanon war in 2006.
There are repeated clashes at the border between the Israeli army and Hezbollah. There were deaths on both sides, including civilians. The mutual attacks are reaching deeper into the other country from day to day.
Hezbollah has connections to the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip, but is considered to be much more influential and powerful. It is also considered Iran’s most important non-state ally and is part of the self-proclaimed “Axis of Resistance”, a front of militias with the aim of fighting Iran’s arch-enemy Israel.
