Another Israeli military action in Lebanon makes it increasingly tense and incandescent the situation in the Middle East. This time Tsahal's goal was a senior Hezbollah military officer, which - as explained by a source from the Jewish State - "played a leading role in directing military operations in the south" of Lebanon, i.e. the area from where the Lebanese Hezbollah have been launching almost daily attacks against Israel for three months. The man was killed "in an Israeli attack that targeted his car in the village of Khirbet Selm", about ten kilometers from the border with Israel, added the source who requested anonymity.
Hezbollah's announcement
Only in the afternoon did Hezbollah announce the death of the "commander Wissam Hassan Tawil“, “fell in combat”. This is the highest-ranking Hezbollah military leader killed since the Lebanese group "opened the front" with Israel to support the Palestinian Hamas, its ally. The raid began a few days before his death of the Hamas number two, Saleh Al-Arouri, and six other leaders and leaders of the movement in an attack attributed to Israel on January 2. The targeted bombing, on that occasion, targeted an office of the Palestinian organization in the southern outskirts of Beirut, a stronghold of Hezbollah, which then launched sixty-two rockets in a retaliatory action against a military base in north of the Jewish state.
The risk of escalation and Blinken's role
The two killings carried out by Israeli forces, as mentioned, risk lighting the fuse of a war escalation in the area, already very hot since 7 October last. Today the head of American diplomacy Antony blinken He's busy on his regional tour, whose objective, according to American officials, is precisely to prevent the conflict from "spilling" beyond the borders of Gaza Strip. In this Blinken is supported by the EU. On Saturday in Beirut, the head of diplomacy of the European Union, Josep Borrell, declared for his part that Lebanon should not be “dragged into a regional conflict”. “It is imperative to avoid regional escalation in the Middle East,” said Borrell, who met with a Hezbollah representative.
