Hizbullah does not expand the war

The Shiite Hezbollah militia resists expanding the war throughout the region and conditions such a catastrophic hypothesis to the course of the conflict in Gaza, without setting a deadline as an ultimatum. Its leader, the cleric Hassan Nasrallah, spoke yesterday in a bellicose and inflamed tone, his trademark, but not conclusive. “Whoever wants to prevent a regional war, and I am speaking to the Americans, must stop the Gaza aggression soon.”

The speech was highly anticipated, because this leader whose whereabouts are unknown had not spoken since the beginning of the war and Hizbullah, very strong in southern Lebanon, has the military capacity to put Israel in trouble and reach it with its precision missiles. He is also the brother greater than the call resistance axis along with Hamas in Gaza, El Assad in Syria, the Houthis in Yemen and various groups in Iraq. Everyone in tune with Iran. The spread of war is their business and the US's efforts to prevent that from happening.

For now, Hizbullah seems content with the Lebanese front, the temporary playing field to replicate Israel without crossing the limits that lead to a regional spiral. “I will be transparent, honest and purposefully ambiguous to say that all our possibilities are open on our Lebanese front,” the cleric said. The Israeli response, in Netanyahu's mouth, was less ambiguous. Opening a full-fledged second front would be “a mistake that would cost them a price they cannot even imagine.”

Hassan Nasrallah made another statement along the lines of not fueling the conflict by saying that the Hamas attacks that cost the lives of 1,400 Israeli civilians on October 7 were an idea materialized “one hundred percent by Hamas,” which kept its plans in place. secret. That is, without prior notice to Hizbullah and, therefore, to the theocratic regime in Tehran.

The leader of the Shiite militia concentrates the possible escalation against Israel on the Lebanese border

In parallel, Secretary of State Antony Blinken met in Tel Aviv with Prime Minister Beniamin Netanyahu in order to persuade him that “it does matter to do more to protect civilians.” Significantly, Blinken descended into the sentimental arena and equated the images of two Israeli children to those whose father had just been killed on October 7 – after which the terrorist opened the refrigerator in the house and had a drink before the children's heartbreak. – with the images he sees of Palestinian children rescued from the rubble in Gaza. “And I see my children,” he added.

The diplomacy of Nasrallah – certainly unconventional – and that of Secretary of State Blinken clashed with the immovable stance of the Prime Minister of Israel, who refuses any concession or maneuver that could alter the military determination to pulverize Hamas in Gaza. It cannot be said that yesterday he apparently paid attention to the requests of Antony Blinken, who expressed the US desire for “concrete measures” to alleviate the damage to the population, including “humanitarian pauses”, a covert form of a ceasefire, an option categorically rejected by Netanyahu. Blinken argued that these pauses would favor the release of the hostages, Washington's other priority in addition to preventing the conflict from spreading. Blinken indicated that the Israeli side had shown “legitimate doubts” about the pauses.

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Joaquin Luna | Tel Aviv. Special delivery

After the meeting with the Secretary of State, without a joint appearance before the media, the prime minister limited himself to saying that “we will continue with all our strength. “Israel refuses a temporary truce that does not include the release of our hostages.”

Although the United States reaffirms in each statement “the right and obligation” of Israel to defend itself, the bilateral relationship transmits certain discomforts and disagreements. “The Israelis have more determination than the Americans in this war. They argue that they are the ones who have Hamas as neighbors and not the United States,” says Wadie Abunasar, a political consultant, in a discreet bookstore-cafe in Jaffa, where European diplomats travel. In his opinion, the war is going well for Israel in terms of casualties, while Hamas loses a hundred men every day. “Hamas now needs to show some achievement – ​​he estimates – and its only asset is the hostages, which they are willing to exchange in exchange for the release of Palestinians.”

Blinken asks Tel Aviv for “humanitarian pauses” and Netanyahu talks about Hamas releasing the hostages first

The hell of Gaza claims lives every day in some episode that justifies the concern of the US for the sake of the battle of Western and Arab public opinion, a concern that does not seem to be a priority for Israel, focused on winning the war as quickly as possible. possible and with the fewest casualties. An Israeli airstrike on a convoy of ambulances outside the Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City sparked outrage from the Red Crescent, which was organizing the evacuation. Chaos, dead, injured and a provisional balance of 13 dead and 26 injured, according to the calculation of the Gaza Ministry of Health. The response from the spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was quick and brief: “There were terrorists in the convoy.” Matter closed.

The only apparent concession wrung by the secretary of state from the Israeli prime minister was to halt settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank and thus dispel the widespread impression that they have enjoyed impunity.

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