After clashes on Wednesday at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, the two countries, still technically in a state of war, exchanged rocket fire and airstrikes.
This is the latest episode in a sudden escalation in the Middle East. At least two Israeli women died on Friday, April 7, in a bullet attack against their vehicle in the occupied West Bank, according to the emergency services and the Israeli army, quoted by AFP. Earlier in the day, Israel had carried out strikes in Gaza and Lebanon, claiming to target Hamas targets, after the firing of several dozen rockets against Israel the day before from these two territories. These exchanges of fire come after the violent irruption of the Israeli police in the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, the third holiest site in Islam, in order to dislodge Palestinians who had barricaded themselves there, in the middle of Ramadan. Franceinfo explains why the situation is worrying.
Because the escalation on the Israeli-Lebanese front has been unparalleled since 2006
Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon have started around 4:30 a.m. Israel time on Friday, according to a military statement quoted by AFP. Loud explosions were heard in the Tire area. In Gaza, the Israeli air raids had begun before midnight. On Thursday, Passover day, around 30 rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel, injuring one person and causing material damage. The Israeli army, Tsahal, claimed to be certain that the unclaimed rocket attacks from Lebanon were “palestinians”, and probably, according to her, the work of Hamas or Islamic Jihad. But IDF “holds the Lebanese State responsible for any directed fire [vers Israël] from its territory.
This escalation on the Israeli-Lebanese front has been unparalleled since 2006, the date of the last major conflict between Israel and Shiite Hezbollah, the de facto master of southern Lebanon. The two countries remain technically in a state of war and the ceasefire line is controlled by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), deployed to ensure the maintenance of the truce. THURSDAY, she described the situation as “extremely serious”, in a written statement (in English) .
“The level of rockets sent from southern Lebanon yesterday [jeudi]this is unheard of since the last war between Lebanon and Israel in 2006”confirms on franceinfo the historian Vincent Lemire.
“Israel risks ending up with four fronts: Lebanon, Gaza, Jerusalem and mixed Israeli cities.”
Vincent Lemire, historianon franceinfo
UNIFIL assured that Lebanon and Israel did not want “no war”. And Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said he refused “any escalation from its territory”. But for its part, Hezbollah has proclaimed its support for “all measures” that the Palestinian armed groups could take against Israel, denouncing “the assault of the Israeli occupation forces” against the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Because one of the most right-wing governments in Israel’s history is in power
These new clashes come as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is locked in a spiral of violence, after one of the most right-wing governments in Israel’s history took office at the end of December. To return to power, Binyamin Netanyahu joined forces with ultra-Orthodox and ultra-nationalist parties. “These groups believe that the Jewish state must above all be Jewish and that democracy is not an essential component of the Israeli identity” detailed at the end of March Amélie Férey, researcher at the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri), with franceinfo.
The violence has resumed since the first weekend of April, after a semblance of a lull observed since the start of Ramadan on March 23. As historian Vincent Lemire points out, “Unlike last year, Jewish activists from the Third Temple were authorized to come and pray this year on the esplanade of the Mosques during Ramadan by the Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, strong support” of these activists and f figure of the Israeli far right. According to the correspondent of World (article reserved for subscribers) in Jerusalem, young Palestinians barricaded themselves in the Al-Aqsa mosque in the face of the threat of this group of Messianic Jews to slaughter a lamb on the esplanade to celebrate the first day of Passover.
The images of the dislodging of these Palestinian worshipers by the Israeli police, with the help of “sticks, weapons, tear gas grenades and smoke bombs”according to witnesses interviewed by AFP, shocked the international community. “ Israeli security forces carried out a very, very violent evacuation of Al-Aqsa Mosque immediately after the end of the last prayer of the night, effectively preventing worshipers from spending the night there.”notes Vincent Lemire.
Following a security cabinet meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu promised that the “retaliate (…) will[it] pay a high price” to the enemies of Israel. “Israeli defense is ready to face any threat, on any front”added Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Because the United States is more withdrawn in the region
This new outburst of violence has prompted condemnation and calls for restraint within the international community. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for “the greatest restraint”. Paris condemned shootings “indiscriminate” on Israel and called “to respect the historic status quo at the holy sites in Jerusalem”while Washington has recognized “Israel’s legitimate right to defend itself against any form of aggression”.
Historical allies of Israel, the United States, however, appear in retreat in the Israeli-Palestinian file since the election of Joe Biden. The Democratic administration must come to terms with the legacy left by Donald Trump, who had recognized Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state and asked to transfer the American embassy there. And Washington is suspected of gradually ceding its place as a key player in the region to better focus in the short term on the war in Ukraine against Russia and, in the longer term, on China and Asia-Pacific. . “I Biden administration has made it very clear that it intends to promote security and stability in the Middle East, and that US involvement will be more on the sidelines than in the past”explained to AFP, in mid-March, James Ryan, who heads the Middle East program at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia.
Despite repeated calls for appeasement, including during the trip of the head of American diplomacy to Jerusalem and Ramallah at the end of January, the violence has worsened, a sign of American impotence. The United States tirelessly repeats its support for the two-state solution and denounces Israel’s unilateral actions on the settlements in particular, but refrains from going beyond that, for reasons of internal politics. As the United States enters an election year in 2024, “their room for maneuver is going to be very limited in this respect”noted James Ryan.