The war between Hamas and IsraelDossierThe situation in the Middle East at midday.
More than three months after Hamas' bloody attack on Israel, the war shows no sign of letting up. The Israeli Air Force continues to carry out destructive attacks on Gaza, and the Jewish state has advanced its post-Gaza chess pieces since, at the end of the fighting, “neither Hamas” nor “Israeli civil administration” were stationed in Palestinian territory. This Monday, January 8, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is again on tour in the Middle East to try to prevent a regional conflagration, while a senior Hezbollah military leader was killed in an attack in southern Lebanon.
The summary from January 7th can be found here.
Senior Hezbollah military official killed in Israeli strike. Wissam Hassan Tawil, a senior Hezbollah military official, was killed in an attack by Israeli aircraft in southern Lebanon on Monday. The man “played a leading role in directing military operations in the south,” from where Lebanese Hezbollah has been carrying out almost daily attacks against Israel for three months. He was killed by “an Israeli attack on his car in the village of Kherbet Selem,” about 10 kilometers from the border with Israel. This is the highest-ranking Hezbollah military official killed since this powerful formation opened the front with Israel in support of Hamas. In a statement released on Monday, the Israeli army claimed to have destroyed a Hezbollah building in Lebanon. This new raid comes after the deaths of Hamas number two, Saleh al-Arouri, and six other leaders and executives of the movement in an attack attributed to Israel on January 2nd. In retaliation, Hezbollah fired 62 rockets at a military base in northern Israel.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant threatens Hezbollah to “do what is happening in Gaza” in Beirut. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced that the army would begin “the third phase of the war in Gaza” or more targeted operations. The minister specified that this third phase will be longer than the previous ones. In addition, Yoav Gallant warned Hezbollah and did not shy away from threatening the Lebanese Shiite movement. “We are prepared to make sacrifices. Hezbollah sees what is happening in Gaza and they must know that we are ready to repeat these operations in Beirut,” he told the American newspaper.
The head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, is expected to try in Israel to achieve a de-escalation of the war in Gaza and prevent its contagion in Lebanon. The US secretary of state, whose country is Israel's main backer, warned that the conflict could “easily metastasize” at the end of the Qatari leg of its tour of the region on Sunday, the fourth since the war began. He is expected in Israel this Monday evening. According to American officials, Antony Blinken wants to prevent Lebanon from being drawn into war, push Israel to enter a new military phase that costs less to Palestinian lives and initiate a “difficult” dialogue on the postwar period.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid called on ministers Benny Gantz, Gadi Eisenkot and Gideon Saar to leave the government. According to the Israeli opposition leader, “the government is not capable of leading the country, and Netanyahu is not capable of leading the country.” Yair Lapid said these three entered the government “because they thought it “It was for the good of the country, but they couldn't support it.” As long as they are there, as long as they are under Netanyahu's command, they give him legitimacy. In his opinion, it is possible to form a “broad, sensible and benevolent government” in a short time that would support the IDF and the reserve soldiers, allocate the budget for the benefit of citizens, return the deportees to their homes and put forward a plan for reconstruction the table.