In view of the tension in the region and the mutual bombardment between Israel on the one hand and Lebanon, the Gaza Strip and Syria on the other, it seems that the region is on a hot plate.
However, it is reassuring that none of the parties to the conflict wish to ignite the region.
A message from Netanyahu
The bombardment, which was launched from southern Lebanon with about 34 missiles, sent a message that the attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque is a red line, and responded to the successive Israeli raids on Syria, which targeted targets linked to Iran in their entirety.
However, with all this, no one claimed responsibility for launching the missiles, so who launched them?
In the midst of these developments, the head of the political bureau of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, arrived in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, and met with the Secretary General of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah.
On the Israeli side, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the heads of the settlements around the Gaza Strip, trying to calm them down, following the recent bombing they were subjected to.
Netanyahu stressed that his forces are operating in open and covert ways in the Gaza Strip.
In the words of the Israeli prime minister, there is a message that he wants to convey to the home and abroad, to the effect that the Israeli response to the bombing operation has not ended yet, and that he is planning something greater than that, especially since Israel has pointed the finger of blame at Hamas and not at anyone else, and the latter refused to do so.
The fall of the Netanyahu government?
In this context, former Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora asserts that “what is happening in Jerusalem is rejected and condemned.”
Siniora stressed, in an interview with Al-Araby from Beirut, that “Israel’s continued protection of settlers during the incursion is unacceptable, and it must be responded to through Arab and international positions that pressure Tel Aviv.”
The former prime minister points out that “every matter must be studied through its effects on the Lebanese situation and on the city of Jerusalem.”
He says, “The use of Lebanon as a platform for launching missiles and sending messages is something that the Lebanese reject.”
He adds, “Lebanon cannot be a place for escalation with Israel, because it is exposed to great risks amid repercussions on the fragile internal security situation.”
Siniora clarifies that “Israel is going through a very difficult situation internally, in the midst of a government division due to the existence of this racist government, which today is in danger of falling.”
Escalation on 3 fronts
For his part, Ibrahim Freihat, a professor of international conflicts at the Doha Institute, believes that “it is wrong to limit the escalation to an Israeli conflict with Hamas, which wants to send messages to Tel Aviv.”
Freihat explained, in an interview with Al-Araby from Doha, that “there is an unprecedented Israeli escalation on 3 fronts, the first in Al-Aqsa through the practices of the extreme right-wing government.”
He says, “The second front is the escalation in Syria and the increased bombing of Iranian centers.”
He adds, “As for the third front, it lies in the Iranian nuclear activity and Tehran’s access to the nuclear load with the high rate of enrichment.”
He continues, “These paths are closely linked, and escalation, when it occurs, cannot be separated from the context of events.”