Was this the week Israel and Hezbollah drew closer to war? - BBC News

Israel may be fighting in Gaza, but fear remains a war with Hezbollah could turn the conflict into something even deadlier.

1 day agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsIsrael-Gaza warBy Mark LowenBBC News, JerusalemSince the start of the Israel-Gaza war, following the Hamas attack of 7 October, the overriding fear has been that the conflict could spill over into something even deadlier.

The day after the Hamas assault, Lebanon's most powerful armed group Hezbollah fired guided rockets and shells into Israel in solidarity with Hamas, prompting Israeli drone and artillery retaliation.

Could Israel, traumatised and vulnerable, with a prime minister fighting for political survival, decide the threat from across its northern border in Lebanon needs to be neutralised?

The fear has been that Benjamin Netanyahu's government might be tempted into a second front in the war, against Hezbollah - which, like Hamas, is intent on destroying the Jewish state. And if so, would it draw in Iran, Hezbollah's key patron in the region and sworn enemy of the US?

This week Israel carried out more air strikes on the Bekaa valley, deep into Lebanon, taking the death toll in Lebanon since the start of the conflict to more than 240.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68575413

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