The eyes of the international community are on Lebanon and Iran as Israel continues to hammer away at the complete elimination of the Hezbollah threat and prepares to unleash its retaliation against the theocratic regime in Tehran.
Beirut was hit overnight by a new wave of Israeli shelling, which caused huge explosions and plumes of smoke near the Lebanese capital's international airport.
Nasrallah's successor is in the crosshairs of Israel
The target is said to have been Hashem Safieddin, a cousin of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike last week, and his presumptive successor. According to Lebanon's Iran-backed Shiite Islamist group, Israeli warplanes launched 11 consecutive strikes on its stronghold in southern Beirut. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) had previously warned residents of these areas to evacuate.
Neither Hezbollah nor the Israeli military have yet confirmed whether the group's national coordinator was killed, but the shelling was so intense it caused buildings to shake while car alarms blared.
Escalation between Israel and Iran - Biden: "Total war can be avoided"
The new war between Israel and Hezbollah is accompanied by an escalation between Israel and Iran. Tehran fired more than 200 missiles at Israeli territory on Tuesday, with the two sides exchanging threats afterward, heightening concerns that the Middle East is headed for a general conflagration.
Tehran said it was in retaliation for the September 27 assassination of Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas leader Ismail Haniya, who was killed in an attack on July 31 in the Israeli-occupied Iranian capital.
American President Joe Biden assured yesterday, when asked by journalists, that "we can avoid" the outbreak of "total war" in the Middle East, but "a lot" must be done for it.
The US is determined to prevent an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities
The White House is determined to prevent Israel's prime minister from ordering strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities - a red line for Tehran that could spark a regional war in the Middle East.
Netanyahu has vowed to answer for Tuesday's Iranian barrage of ballistic missiles against Israel, which hit targets including the Nevatim air base. But he has not revealed when or where he will strike Israel.
Given that no Israeli civilians were killed in Tuesday's attack – only one Palestinian in the West Bank was hit by a rocket fragment at an intersection – Washington believes that Israeli retaliation should be such that it avoids escalation.
However, international powers expect Israel to hit military targets, or those linked to oil production – a major source of income for Iran, which is among the world's top ten oil producers –
Asked whether Iran's oil facilities were a possible target, Biden told reporters: "We're talking about it." And he appeared to mean that he is trying to dissuade Netanyahu from a move that would trigger an Iranian response and surely send the black gold prices soaring. “I think that would be a bit… anyway,” he said.
The prices of oil in the international markets increased by leaps and bounds after this statement of the American president.
The G7 yesterday expressed its "deep concern" about the "deteriorating situation" in the Middle East.
What will Netanyahu do?
The Israeli prime minister is deciding whether to capitalize on the recent humiliating blows the IDF and Israeli intelligence have inflicted on Iran with military action that could once and for all eliminate the threat from Tehran and its proxies.
Since the terrorist attacks of October 7 last year, Israel has killed two of the three leaders of Hamas, the senior military and political leadership of Hezbollah and managed to deal significant blows to Iran's operations in Syria with a series of airstrikes without suffering a serious response.
The White House believes Israel should focus on ending the war in the Gaza Strip with a cease-fire agreement that would include the return of Israeli hostages and a plan for the future governance of the Palestinian enclave.
Washington is simultaneously supporting Israel's invasion of southern Lebanon, where the IDF continues to destroy Hezbollah targets, but the war there is escalating criticism of Israel over civilian casualties and the risk of destabilizing vulnerable neighbors, which in the long run will work against of Israel.
Eyes on the sermon of Iran's supreme leader
Meanwhile, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is expected to hold a memorial service today for slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as part of Friday prayers in Tehran, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency, and deliver a public sermon that will could shed light on the plans of the Islamic Republic after the missile attack on hostile Israel.
Khamenei performed his last Friday prayers in January 2020 after Iran fired missiles at a US military base in Iraq in response to a strike that killed Revolutionary Guard commander Qassem Soleimani.
The ceremony is scheduled to begin Friday morning at the Grand Mosque in Tehran.
Khamenei's rare sermon comes three days before the one-year anniversary of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, sparked by the pro-Iranian group's attack, on October 7.
Propaganda video – warning of the Revolutionary Guards
At the same time, the Revolutionary Guards released a new propaganda video, which appears to be a warning, of preparations for Tuesday's massive rocket attack on Israel.
In the video, Iranian military personnel can be seen preparing the missiles, but also writing anti-Israel slogans on them.
Source: iefimerida.gr
