Interim Prime Minister Najib Mikati is doing everything in his power to prevent the conflict in Gaza from spilling over into Lebanon. However, Hezbollah, a political party and armed organization, has more power in Lebanon than the regular army. And it regularly shells the Israeli army from Lebanese territory.
Interim Prime Minister Lebanon On Tuesday, Naguib Mikati inspected the troops on the border with Israel, where tensions are rising due to the conflict in the Palestinian Gaza Strip. Incidents are repeated almost every day – pro-Iranian Hezbollah fires rockets at Israel, and the Israeli army responds with artillery fire.
This is Mikati’s first visit to the country’s southern border since the beginning of the war between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. Reuters points out that two days earlier, the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu visited Israeli soldiers on the border with Lebanon.
Tension is growing over the conflict in the Palestinian Gaza StripATEF SAFADI/PAP/EPA
As Reuters comments, Mikati is doing everything in his power to prevent spillage conflict in the Gaza Strip on Lebanon, but Hezbollah, both a political party and an armed organization, has more power in Lebanon than the regular army.
Hezbollah’s deputy leader, Sheikh Naim Qassem, said his group was “at the heart” of the fight to “defend the Gaza Strip and end the occupation.”
On Wednesday, the head of Hezbollah, Sayed Hasan Nasrallah, met with the leaders of Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Beirut’s al-Manar TV reported on Wednesday. According to the station, the purpose of the meeting was to “assess next steps to achieve a real victory for the resistance” in the Gaza Strip.
Hezbollah drags Lebanon into war
Earlier on Tuesday, Israeli President Yitzhak Herzog said during a meeting with the president France Emmanuel Macron that the Jewish state does not seek confrontation with Hezbollah on its northern border.
On that day, 15 rockets were fired from Lebanon towards Israel. Four of them were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system, the rest fell on uninhabited areas.
On Sunday, Israel Defense Forces spokesman Jonathan Conricus announced that Hezbollah is escalating the conflict on the border and drawing Lebanon into a war that will not bring it any benefits and may bring heavy losses. Shiite Hezbollah, supported by Iran, claims that its primary goal is to destroy Israel.
Israeli forces have already significantly strengthened their contingent on the border with Lebanon, but most of the troops are stationed near the Gaza Strip, waiting for a land operation, reports the Times of Israel.
Main photo source: ATEF SAFADI/PAP/EPA