At the end of three days marked by attacks and by intense excitement, the volcanic Lebanese-Israeli border appeared, on Friday August 6, to have once again resisted the scenario of an open conflict, such as that which opposed, in 2006, the Israeli army and Hezbollah. But the escalation led UNIFIL, the United Nations Interim Force deployed in southern Lebanon, to issue an alert on a “Very dangerous situation”. It played out, on this front which never froze, the most serious outbreak of fever since 2019.
The streak opened on Wednesday when two rockets fired from southern Lebanon struck in northern Israel, near the town of Kiryat Shmona. The shooting has not been claimed, but the Israeli army suspects Palestinian groups of having been in the maneuver. It was closed on Friday with Israeli retaliation with artillery towards Lebanon.
But two unusual episodes raised concerns. After an initial artillery response, the IDF launched aerial bombardments against southern Lebanon overnight Wednesday through Thursday; it had not carried out such raids on the region for years. And, on Friday, Hezbollah, an ally of Tehran, claimed responsibility for a dozen rocket attacks aimed at the disputed region of Shebaa Farms, a territory occupied by Israel that the UN attributes to Syria but which Lebanon claims.
The war of nerves continues
None of these multiple bursts caused any casualties. Despite the eruption, it is more to mutual deterrence that the two enemies seem to have engaged in, whom observers deem reluctant to a new war. The rare episodes of confrontation, since 2006, were quickly contained. Nevertheless: a “Error of judgment” can lead to “Serious consequences”, was alarmed, Friday, the special coordinator of the United Nations in Lebanon, Joanna Wronecka, by calling for “Maximum hold”.
Despite the apparent de-escalation, the war of nerves continues. “The situation in Lebanon is tense and we can make it even more tense, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz warned in a Channel 12 interview. We have no interest in Lebanon, except that the security situation is calmed. However, calm will only reign in Lebanon if calm reigns in our country from Lebanon. “ “We don’t think things are heading for escalation, although Hezbollah is prepared” to a confrontation, affirmed, for his part, Naïm Qassem, the number two of the Shiite Islamist movement endowed with a vast military arsenal.
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