Why is Israel invading Lebanon and could it escalate into a regional war with Iran?

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Why is ******* invading Lebanon and could it escalate into a regional war with Iran?

******** troops have started an invasion of

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

to carry out “targeted ground raids” against

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

across a number of villages.

Since the 7 October ******* inside

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

by ****** and *******’s subsequent

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

and ******* have traded ***** almost daily over the northern border with

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

Two weeks ago, a series of exploding device attacks in which Hezbollah pagers and walkie talkies blew up around Lebanon – an ******* widely believed to have been carried out by ******* – the conflict has seen a major escalation.

According to the

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Lebanese authorities say more than one million people have been

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

in southern Lebanon since last October – 90 per cent of which have been in roughly the past week. Around 60,000 Israelis have been evacuated from northern towns in the same *******.

More than 1,000 people have been *******, including more than 100 women and children in the past two weeks, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==

A man who was injured in the exploding devices ******* sits outside the Eye Specialist hospital in Beirut (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All right reserved)

This includes more than a dozen Hezbollah commanders,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, who led the militant group for more than three decades.

But what is *******’s goal in going forward with a ground invasion?

What is *******’s military doing?data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==

Nasrallah was ******* in a large strike on Beirut, September 27 (AP)

******* says its invasion is aimed at guaranteeing security for the northern border.

The ******** military confirmed at 2am local time on Tuesday morning that it would be launching an asault into “villages close to the border” in

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

On Tuesday morning, ******* said intense fighting had erupted with Hezbollah as commandos and paratroopers launched raids.

******* says it will be a “limited, localised” operation. In comments to the Washington Post, US officials suggested ******** troops may withdraw after completing their objectives in southern Lebanon.

But ******* has left the door open to a larger scale invasion in the coming weeks if its objective of pushing Hezbollah back and returning ******** citizens to their homes.

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==

******** tanks were seen manoeuvring near the *******-Lebanon border last night (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Major General Ori Gordin, the head of the military’s Northern Command, reportedly wants to clear Hezbollah fighters and infrastructure away from the border to create a “buffer zone,” which would allow the evacuated Israelis to return home.

Hezbollah, a proscribed ********** group in the ***, was formed in 1982 but gained significant military power in the

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. Its stated objective is to drive ******** forces away from southern Lebanon.

The group is aligned with Iran, which is understood to provide most of its funding. Hezbollah’s military wing is sophisticated and thought to be about the strength of a medium-sized army, stronger than Lebanon’s own forces.

What could be the wider consequences of ******* crossing the border?

With its close ties to Iran, a direct ******** on Hezbollah runs the risk of drawing the country – a long-time opponent of ******* – into the conflict. Tensions already reached a high point in April when Iran launched a drone and missile ******* on ******** targets in April, responding to the country’s ******** of part of the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria.

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==

Netanyahu released a video address yesterday (AP)

Speaking in a video which he said was addressing the Iranian people – but in which he spoke English – ******** prime minister

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

said there is “nowhere in the

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

******* cannot reach”.

It was a thinly-veiled threat to Tehran, which Mr Netanyahu accused of bringing its own people “closer to the abyss”.

“There is nowhere we will not go to protect our people and protect our country,” he added. “When Iran is finally free – and that moment will come a lot sooner than people think – everything will be different.”

The West had urged ******* not to invade Lebanon amid concerns of an all-out regional conflict dragging in Iran and huge diplomatic pressure is also being applied on Tehran not to get involved.

******* and Iran have been trading barbed rhetoric and threats about escalation for months, but Mr Netanyahu’s decison to push into Lebanon is a risk. He may see it as a calculated risk – but the US, *** and other nations across the West and Middle East will be deeply concerned about where it might lead. They will see Iran’s response – or preferably a lack of one – as key.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#******* #invading #Lebanon #escalate #regional #war #Iran

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up