(Beirut) Calls to leave Lebanon, the strengthening of the American military presence in the Middle East and the suspension of air links: concerns about a military escalation in the Middle East are growing on Saturday after the increase in threats from Iran and its allies against Israel.
Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah have blamed Israel for the death Wednesday of the leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement, Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in his Tehran residence. His assassination came hours after an attack claimed by Israel that killed the Lebanese military leader of the movement, Fouad Shokr, on Tuesday evening near Beirut.
Israel has not commented on Haniyeh’s assassination, but has vowed to destroy Hamas after an unprecedented attack by the movement on October 7 on its soil that sparked a devastating response by the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip.
Iranian leaders, along with Lebanese Islamist movements Hezbollah and Palestinian Hamas, have vowed to avenge the deaths of Haniyeh and Shokr, with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatening Israel with “severe punishment.”
PHOTO JIM WATSON, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his visit to Washington on July 25.
Opposite, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed that his country was at a “very high level” of preparation for any scenario, “both defensive and offensive.”
“Leave Lebanon now”
In view of “the possibility of a regional escalation by Iran and its partners”, the United States, Israel’s main ally, announced on Friday “to modify (its) military posture” to “improve the protection of the armed forces of the United States” and “boost support for the defense of Israel”.
More warships, “carrying ballistic missile defense” and “an additional squadron of combat aircraft,” will be deployed, the Pentagon said.
On Saturday, the US Embassy urged its citizens to leave Lebanon by taking “any available plane ticket.”
“The situation could deteriorate rapidly […] My message to British nationals is clear: leave Lebanon now,” said British Foreign Minister David Lammy.
“Of course we are afraid,” says Naji Der Kasbar, a 51-year-old Lebanese shopkeeper in Beirut. “If a war breaks out” it would be “a disaster for Lebanon.”
“Tel Aviv and Haifa”
PHOTO OREN ZIV, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
An Israeli Navy corvette patrols the port of Haifa.
The war in Gaza has led to the opening of fronts against Israel by Hezbollah and the Yemeni Houthi rebels, who together with Hamas and Iraqi groups form what Iran calls the “axis of resistance” against Israel.
On Saturday, Iran’s representation to the UN said it expected Hezbollah to strike areas “deep” inside Israeli territory, and “not limit itself to military targets,” after the movement’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, spoke of an “inevitable response.”
According to the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic, Ismail Haniyeh was killed by a “short-range projectile” fired at the building where he was after attending the inauguration ceremony of the Iranian president.
” The system of government […] “The Zionist will certainly receive the answer to this crime at the appropriate time and place,” they warned.
Tel Aviv and Haifa “are among the targets,” wrote the ultraconservative Iranian daily Kayhan on Saturday, predicting “painful human losses.”
Meanwhile, the cycle of daily violence continues on the Israeli-Lebanese border. Hezbollah announced on Saturday the death of a fighter killed according to a security source by an “Israeli drone” in southern Lebanon and claimed responsibility for rocket fire against northern Israel.
Suspension of air links
In a sign of growing concern, several airlines have suspended their connections to Beirut airport, including Germany’s Lufthansa until August 5.
PHOTO JOSEPH EID, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
A plane flying over Ramlet al-Baida beach in Beirut.
Air France and Transavia have extended this measure until Tuesday inclusive, and Kuwait Airways will interrupt its rotations from Monday.
Lufthansa has also suspended flights to Tel Aviv until August 8.
Sweden has announced the closure of its embassy in Beirut and called on its nationals to leave the country.
-10 dead in a raid in Gaza
Nearly 10 months after the start of the war in Gaza, the Israeli army is continuing its offensive there.
According to the local Civil Defense, an Israeli strike on a school complex housing displaced people left ten dead in Gaza City in the north of the besieged Palestinian territory, ravaged and threatened with famine according to the UN.
The Israeli military claimed the compound served as a “hideout for Hamas terrorists.”
Hamas, which seized power in Gaza in 2007, is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.
His attack on October 7 in southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data. Of the 251 people kidnapped at the time, 111 are still being held in Gaza, 39 of whom are dead, according to the army.
The Israeli retaliatory offensive has so far killed 39,550 people in Gaza, according to data from the Gaza government’s health ministry, which does not provide details on the number of civilian and combatant deaths.