«War!», calls out the Minister of National Security, the Israeli Itamar Ben Gvir, while visiting the northern border of Israel. He is not referring to Gaza, where fighting continues awaiting an agreement on the hostages, which Hamas distances itself by reiterating as a condition the complete withdrawal of the Israeli army and a permanent end to the conflict. The Israeli ultra-right minister is referring to Lebanon, that second front opened since 7 October, when the Shiite and pro-Iranian fundamentalists joined the Hamas battle in the Strip and have not stopped attacking the border villages and structures Israeli soldiers with rockets and drones, causing a vast series of fires in the night between Monday and Tuesday, which were only put out in the early hours of yesterday morning. «Lebanon must burn. All Hezbollah strongholds should burn, be destroyed,” insists Ben Gvir, while Iran’s new Foreign Minister, Ali Bagheri Bakri, is in Beirut to meet Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. More moderate but equally effective is the centrist war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, who guarantees: «Hostilities on the northern border with Lebanon will be resolved by the start of the next school year, September 1st. It will end with a diplomatic agreement or a military escalation”, is the promise. The Armed Forces do not shy away. The IDF chief of staff, Herzi Halevi, warns that “the point is approaching where a decision must be made and the IDF is ready for war in Lebanon.” Not even Hezbollah is holding back, replying through its number two, Naim Qassem: «We do not intend to widen the conflict. But if Israel wants a full-scale war, we are ready.” Confirming that escalation is just around the corner is the indiscretion of the Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar, linked to Hezbollah, according to which Great Britain has warned Beirut that Israel will launch a large-scale offensive in mid-June and has advised to “make the necessary provisions for the conflict”.
242 days after 7 October, eight months after the Hamas attack and the beginning of the conflict, the winds of war are blowing ever more forcefully from Lebanon too. After the fires caused by Hezbollah rockets were put out, the sirens continued to sound yesterday in the Galilee, where the attacks continued. They have been repeated incessantly for months, so much so that they caused 100 thousand people to be displaced, later reduced to 60 thousand, but the number seems destined to rise again. A Hezbollah operative has been killed in an Israeli army drone strike. The Netanyahu-led War Cabinet met to address the issue. Adding to the exasperation of the Israelis is the anger of the ultra-right at the government’s “weak” line. “The time has come to bring Lebanon back to the Stone Age,” says the other minister of the far religious right, Bezalel Smotrich, quoting an old phrase by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Opposition leader Yoav Lapid attacks the executive: «The North is on fire and with it Israeli deterrence is burning. The government has no plan for the next day in Gaza, to bring the residents back to the north, no management, no strategy. A government of total abandonment.”
Worried the
French leader Emmanuel Macron, who calls for moderation after delivering to Beirut in February a proposal for an end to hostilities, which includes a halt to attacks and asks Hezbollah to withdraw 10 km to the north.
