Middle East updates: Israel preparing for war with Hezbollah – DW – 06/27/2024

Two people were killed by an Israeli airstrike in southern Syria overnight, Syrian state media said.

“At around 11:40 pm, the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial assault from the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting a number of positions in the southern region, killing two people and injuring a soldier,” the SANA news agency reported.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strike targeted a facility run by a foundation that is affiliated with Iran-backed groups including Hezbollah.

Israel has ramped up strikes against Iran-linked targets in Syria in the aftermath of the October 7 terror attack by Hamas. Israeli authorities rarely comment on such strikes.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said his country does not want war with Lebanon but is ready to inflict major damage if diplomatic efforts fail.

“We do not want war, but we are preparing for every scenario,” Gallant told reporters in the US during a visit to Washington.

“Hezbollah understands very well that we can inflict massive damage in Lebanon if a war is launched.”

Gallant added that Israel’s military was capable of taking Lebanon “back to the Stone Age” in a potential war against the Iran-backed group.

Gallant was speaking while on a trip to Washington. The Biden administration has repeatedly warned against an escalation of the conflict to the wider region.

Tens of thousands of people in northern Israel and southern Lebanon have had to flee their homes as Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters and the Israeli military exchange fire.

On Tuesday, Gallant met with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin who has been working to secure a diplomatic agreement between the two sides.

Germany’s Foreign Office has urged citizens to leave Lebanon due to the tense situation at the border with Israel.

Further escalation could bring air traffic in Beirut to a halt, the Foreign Office said in its latest travel advisory.

“It would then no longer be possible to leave Lebanon by air,” it said.

The Foreign Office said there is a real risk of further escalation from the regular exchange of fire that has taken place across the border since October 7.

“After the Palestinian Hamas launched a major attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Hezbollah and other armed groups have also been firing mortar shells, anti-tank weapons and rockets at Israel from Lebanese territory since October 8, 2023,” it said.

The German authorities warned that the conflict could escalate following increasing warnings from the Israeli government.

“This applies in particular to the southern parts of Lebanon up to and including the southern urban areas of Beirut and the Bekaa Plain, including the Baalbek-Hermel district,” the ministry said.

zc/ab (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa)