Walking into War

Listen to Today's Edition:

The cross-border conflict between Israel and Hezbollah intensified over the weekend with attacks continuing into Monday, in a sharp escalation that has sounded alarms about an all-out war breaking out in the Middle East, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Israel carried out a series of airstrikes on southern Lebanon late Saturday night and early Sunday, describing the operation as a preemptive strike targeting rocket-launching sites it believed were to be used in a larger attack planned for Sunday morning. Israeli forces were carrying out “extensive strikes” on targets in south Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley, CNN reported Monday.

Among those killed in the Israeli strikes was senior Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil who was wanted by the US government for his involvement in a terror attack on the US Embassy in Beirut in April 1983 that killed 63 people, including 17 Americans, and the following attacks on the US Marine Corps barracks that October, which killed 241 US personnel.

In response to the strikes, the Iran-backed Hezbollah fired more than 150 rockets and deployed drones targeting Israeli military bases and defense manufacturers, including Ramat David Airbase and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems – the latter a developer of its Iron Dome air defense system.

The violence comes after pager and handheld radio explosions – targeting Hezbollah’s communications systems across Lebanon – killed 39 people and injured thousands. Hezbollah blamed Israel for the blasts.

The current round of hostilities began in October 2023, when Hezbollah initiated attacks in solidarity with Hamas, following the latter’s Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel that left 1,200 Israelis dead and 250 people taken hostage.

Since then, Hezbollah has said more than 500 of its own fighters have been killed by Israel.

The ongoing clashes have ignited international concern and warnings that the situation could spiral into a regional conflict if neither side backs down.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to restore security, pledging to do “whatever is takes”, the Washington Post reported, warning that Israel would intensify its military operations if Hezbollah did not cease its attacks. Even so, the group’s leaders declared that Hezbollah was ready for a prolonged fight against Israel as its deputy leader Naim Qassem said the conflict had entered a “new phase.”

Nicholas Blanford, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, suggested that Israel’s strikes are designed to force Hezbollah to either retreat or risk an all-out war. However, Blanford added Hezbollah will not back down, aiming to show Israel that it remains resilient and committed to supporting Hamas.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of civilians on either side of the Israel-Lebanon border have been displaced because of the fighting, the BBC noted.

International calls for de-escalation continue, with Western governments urging restraint and United Nations officials warning that the situation is “on the brink of an imminent catastrophe.”