Lebanon-Israel Conflict: Fears of Regional War as Hezbollah and Israel Clashes Escalate

Thea Fathanah Arbar, CNBC Indonesia

Tuesday, 10/31/2023 08:00 WIB

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Lebanon has great fears of the emergence of a regional war. This is because fighting between the armed group Hezbollah and Israel is predicted to get out of control.

The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel itself occurred at the same time as the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

In recent days, Lebanese and Israeli armed groups have launched further attacks into each other’s territory. This is an increase from previous fighting which was limited to the Israel-Lebanon border area.

The attacks targeted military outposts and fighters, and caused several civilian casualties.

Most of the Lebanese villages where the gunfire occurred have been emptied of their inhabitants, and many have fled to Hezbollah strongholds on the outskirts of the capital Beirut. The area is still safe for now.

“Both have evacuated villages to limit the number of casualties,” Randa Slim, a Lebanon expert at the Middle East Institute, was quoted as saying Al JazeeraTuesday (31/10/2023).

However, he noted that the increase in violence was still worrying. Hezbollah claimed to have lost 50 fighters in the fighting, and Israel said six of its soldiers were also killed.

“We’re seeing steady increases every few days. It’s a steady pattern,” Slim said. “The trend is clear… but so far, it doesn’t seem to be getting out of hand.”

A petition online, which has been signed by 8,939 people, calls on the Lebanese government not to be drawn into war. The report warned that Lebanon could turn into a “battleground of proxy wars” waged by foreign powers.

However, some residents said they would support Lebanon taking a more aggressive stance, given the high death toll from Israeli attacks on Gaza.

According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, more than 8,000 Palestinians have been killed in ongoing Israeli bombardment. Of this number, 3,195 of them were children.

According to the non-governmental organization Save the Children, this number is higher than the total number of children killed in conflict zones around the world every year since 2019.

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