3-10-2024 (BEIRUT) The Middle East teeters on the brink of wider conflict as Israel and Hezbollah engaged in close-quarter combat in southern Lebanon on October 2, just a day after Iran’s unprecedented missile attack on Israel. The region’s volatile situation has sent shockwaves across the globe, prompting international calls for restraint and evacuation plans for foreign nationals.
Israeli forces reported intense encounters with Hezbollah fighters in various areas of southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah claimed its forces clashed with Israeli units that had crossed into Lebanese territory. The skirmishes resulted in the first Israeli combat casualties since the initiation of cross-border raids earlier in the week, with eight soldiers reported dead.
Hezbollah spokesman Mohammad Afif characterised the clashes as “the first round of war”, asserting that their forces were “fully prepared to confront and resist the enemy”. This escalation comes in the wake of Israel’s renewed bombardment of Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, with at least a dozen airstrikes targeting the group’s infrastructure.
The situation has been further complicated by Iran’s ballistic missile attack on Israel on October 1, described as Tehran’s most significant military assault on the country to date. While Iran has declared its action concluded, both Israel and the United States have vowed retaliation. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Iran had “made a big mistake” and would “pay for it”, hinting at a potential “significant retaliation” in the coming days.
The international community has responded with a chorus of calls for de-escalation. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed for an end to the “sickening cycle of escalation” in the Middle East, criticising the use of violence by all parties involved. However, tensions between Israel and the UN have risen, with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz declaring Guterres persona non grata in Israel for allegedly failing to “unequivocally condemn” Iran’s attack.
