Israel and Hezbollah to end latest tensions in the northern front

Hours have passed on the latest escalation between Hezbollah and Israel that was witnessed in the borders area of southern Lebanon, following the implementation of Hezbollah’s promised response for the death of two of its militants due to the Israeli shelling on a target in the village of Aqraba in the Syrian Golan last week.

After this escalation, Israel feels a bit of happiness because it was well prepared to respond to Hezbollah, which prevented any casualties among its ranks, while Hezbollah claims that it has caused deaths and injuries due to its targeting of an Israeli vehicle on the other side of the borders.

Israeli media reported that the images of injured Israeli soldiers which were being transported by a military helicopter to the hospital were a “play” to fool Hezbollah of being hit by three anti-tank shells, and thus, it will absorb the response.

While Hezbollah is also pleased that it has achieved its response on the ground and “embodied a state of military parity,” as according to Israeli analyst Elie Nissan.

Yet the question arises: Is Hezbollah’s response has been completed? Has Israel been satisfied with its response to yesterday’s incident?

The Israeli political analyst Elie Nissan told North-Press that it can be said that Hezbollah’s Secretary General Hasan Nasrallah has fulfilled his promise, and responded to Israel’s targeting of its members in the village of Aqraba, but Nissan confirmed that the account is still open, especially since Hezbollah statement’s that it has only responded to the bombing of Aqraba; and it did not respond to the dispatch of the two Israeli reconnaissance planes in the southern suburb of Beirut.

While Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has considered that, there were no casualties among the Israeli forces and then the intensive Israeli bombardment on the Lebanese border areas meant that they had enough of this response at this stage.

Nissan said: “No one wants to escalate the situation in the region; Hezbollah is not interested in the war due to its bad financial situation as a result of the imposed economic sanctions and restrictions on it, in addition to the casualties which it had previously suffered in the war in Syria.”

Israel is also seeking to avoid war because it stands on the threshold of general elections in less than two weeks. However, Elie Nissan stressed that there are red lines, and if Hezbollah crosses them in terms of intelligence on accurate and strategic missiles, Israel does not stand idly.

Regarding whether things have ended at this point, Nissan said: “It was one round, I don’t know what will happen in the future after two hours of the escalation that we had witnessed yesterday. If Hezbollah breaks the red lines, of course, Israel will not be able to remain silent”.

On the other hand, the Lebanese military expert, close to Hezbollah, retired Major General Amin Hatit told North-Press that Hezbollah response was sufficient with what happened yesterday, pointing out that Hezbollah is confident about causing casualties among the Israeli soldiers due to its military response, despite the denial of Tel Aviv.

Regarding the remaining response of Hezbollah, General Hatit explained that it will be about continuing to target the Israeli reconnaissance planes in the skies of Lebanon whenever the opportunity comes in the upcoming days.