At Israel’s northern border, the metronome of artillery and rocket fire hammers home one of the biggest concerns right now: that tensions here could turn the conflict with Gaza into a region-wide war for the Middle East.
Cross-border battles between the Israeli military and Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group allied to Hamas and supported by Iran, are steadily increasing in step with the rising ferocity of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. Despite the fact it doesn’t feel like anyone wants a full-scale regional war, the security situation is rapidly deteriorating to the point where posturing about war might make it inevitable.
Yesterday, the top leadership of Hezbollah, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad met in Beirut. All in what Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has called the “axis of resistance”, the militants were said to have discussed how to “achieve a real victory for the resistance”.
Families in Israel’s northern border communities, who lived through the last war between Israel and Lebanon in 2006, are worried. “This almost feels worse than the build-up to 2006,” says Sharon Azolay, 50, a father-of-five, whose sister was injured in that conflict 17 years ago. He is trying to evacuate his family again – they fled south in 2006 as well.
“Hezbollah has had years to train and become battle-hardened in Syria’s war, they have powerful Iranian weaponry now,” he continued. “This isn’t the same as before.”
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