By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-10-05 00:33:34 | Updated at 2024-10-05 03:20:55
3 hours ago
A year after Hamas militants launched a devastating assault from Gaza, killing 1,200 Israelis, the conflict has spiralled into a multi-front conflict that threatens to engulf the Middle East in what some fear could become a new “forever war”.
The violence escalated early on Tuesday, as Israel launched “limited ground incursions” into southern Lebanon, targeting infrastructure belonging to the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. This followed a week of air strikes that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrullah and displaced an estimated 1 million of Lebanon’s 5.8 million population.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bellicose rhetoric has added further fuel to the fire, suggesting in a video message on Monday potential military action against Iran – which leads the anti-Israel “Axis of Resistance” – and even regime change in Tehran. His statements were applauded by Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and former Middle East policy architect, who exhorted Israel in a lengthy social media post to “finish the job”.
Iran wasted no time in responding to the threats, launching a barrage of 181 ballistic missiles at Israeli military targets within 24 hours. The Iranian mission to the United Nations said that any further Israeli aggression would be met with a “devastating response”. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian later addressed Netanyahu directly, warning on X: “This is only a corner of our power. Do not enter into a conflict with Iran.”
Netanyahu promptly retorted, claiming Iran had “made a big mistake” and would “have to pay for it”.
‘Escalation dominance’
This hot-tempered back-and-forth exposes a conflict caught in a relentless cycle of escalation. Each time international pressure mounts for a ceasefire in Gaza, Israel ramps up its military activities against Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, shifting diplomatic efforts towards preventing a broader regional war.
