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Hamas attack on Israel planned (for months) in Beirut
The repercussions in the 'northern flank', where today there is a climate of apparent calm. Washington's warning to Hezbollah to stay away from the fighting. Seven Shiite militiamen killed in the south. Under consideration is the creation of a crisis unit in the Land of the Cedars, where there is already a first exodus from the south. Army and Unifil engaged in controls.
Beirut (AsiaNews) - The "al-Aqsa flood" operation launched by Hamas has caused a situation of profound instability also in neighboring Lebanon, especially in the south where in the early hours of today a situation of "apparent calm" seems to reign while the Israeli helicopters continuously patrol the area. The widespread feeling within the political class of the Land of Cedars is that this operation was "predictable" considering the repressive policy of the government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A hard line towards the Palestinians with raids and attacks, especially in the West Bank, which caused 247 deaths in the first nine months of the year, with an average of one victim per day.
Planning in Beirut
The offensive conducted by Hamas in Israel on 7 October had been planned for months in the Lebanese capital. L'Orient-Le Jour (LOJ) writes this today, relaunching information from the Wall Street Journal confirmed to the French-speaking newspaper by members of the so-called "axis of resistance" formed by the al-Quds Brigades, Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad. “We are observing developments and could intervene - a Hezbollah leader told OLJ - particularly in the case of a ground offensive in Gaza”. A confirmation of the analysts' theses according to which "Hezbollah will not let Israel destroy Hamas" and is closely following the progress of operations with Iranian soldiers in Beirut. However, according to OLJ, Hezbollah is “waiting to see what happens in the West Bank, which will likely flare up in reaction to Israeli attacks on Gaza” deciding to enter the scene only in a third phase.
With the death yesterday of three fighters from the "party of God" killed in an Israeli bombing in southern Lebanon, the fear of the opening of a front with Israel has increased. In the Land of Cedars, the memory of the 2006 invasion is still alive, with over 1,500 deaths, mostly civilians, and fears grew this morning following a warning from a senior defense official in Washington quoted by AFP: Hezbollah, he underlines, will not must make the “wrong decision” to open a second front against Israel on the border with Lebanon. The order to deploy the aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford, the world's largest warship, to the eastern Mediterranean shows Iranian-backed armed groups, including Lebanese Hezbollah, that they must not "doubt the United States' commitment to support the defense of Israel." The previous day, according to the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper cited by the Ici-Beyrouth online information site, Israel had already warned Hezbollah, via France, that it would attack the southern suburbs of Beirut in the event of the movement's active role in the conflict in Gaza.
Hezbollah's first response
On the ground, Hezbollah announced the death of seven of its fighters, killed in an Israeli attack on one of the observation posts in Aïta el-Chaab. These losses, Hezbollah explained, were due to Israel's unilateral change of the "rules of engagement", which took the Shiite fighters by surprise. In general, artillery exchanges between the two forces were limited to unoccupied areas and primarily as a warning. The militiamen said they responded by bombing two Israeli barracks in Brannit, home to their northern headquarters, calling the attack a "first response" to the deaths of their members. Also yesterday morning, the Jewish State had given free rein to its artillery, with a barrage of fire that had not been seen for 17 years according to local sources, in reaction to an internal infiltration into its territory later claimed by Islamic Jihad. The Israeli command later announced that it had killed "several armed suspects" in the operation, while Hezbollah denied any involvement of its fighters.
Appeal for moderation
Yesterday the Lebanese army and Unifil issued a call for moderation to the parties involved in the conflict, which also affected some villages in the districts of Marjeyoun and Bint Jbeil. However, following the bombings and the Israeli decision to evacuate civilians from border villages and kibbutzim, hundreds of Lebanese families and Syrian refugees preferred to move to the more internal areas of the country. As a precaution, the Ministry of Education ordered the closure of schools bordering the bombed areas, which had been emptied of part of their population.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nagib Mikati, who received the army commander General Joseph Aoun, in turn met with the head of the UN military mission who assured him that "the government's priority is to maintain calm on the border".
The religious authorities have called for a "just and lasting" solution to the Palestinian problem, taking into account that the Maronite patriarch, whose voice is particularly respected, is participating in the synod of bishops in the Vatican. Finally, the creation of an emergency unit is planned to manage the situation but, contrary to what is said, at the moment there are no compromises or critical issues in the movement of passengers at Beirut international airport.
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