Fears mount that a full-scale Israel-Hezbollah confrontation could be imminent | DW News

Fears mount that a full-scale Israel-Hezbollah confrontation could be imminent | DW News

tensions on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon have also been escalating the Israel Defense Forces have been engaged in crossb fire with the iran-backed militant group Hezbollah which has been firing Rockets into Northern Israel almost daily tens of thousands of people on both sides of the Border have been displaced residents of Northern Israel say Hezbollah must be pushed back to protect communities from its Rockets many say it’s only a matter of time before a fullscale confrontation Rebecca BR reports from the town of Matula a town devoid of people Matula just one example of the many abandoned communities along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon a soldier shows me around part of the evacuated Town damage by missile and anti-tank fire is visible almost everywhere about 1 third of the homes in Matula have been struck so far Matula is one of the most dangerous towns along the Lebanese Israeli border it’s surrounded by Lebanon on one two three sides and is hit almost daily by anti-tank missile fire in fact we’re told we have to keep on the move because we’re actually in the direct line of sight of Hezbollah Fighters just as we’re wrapping up there’s a rocket alert and we have to take cover you right another heavy barrage nearby the military confirms around 65 Rockets were fired into the area one of the biggest strikes since the War Began mayor David aolai says Rockets aren’t even the biggest threat here the main threat against Matula is anti-tank missiles they are missiles that have no warning system we can’t stop them aai is one of a few residents who stayed behind part of a civil defense team who are working with the military to protect the area Israeli officials have said for months that Hezbollah need to be pushed back from the border a strategy the people living in these parts agree is the only option residents won’t return here without fighting without the removal of Hezbollah from the fence we saw the horrors of October 7th in the South and therefore there’s no other choice we don’t want war but we simply have no other Cho residents like carel renat feel the same she and her family left their home in another border Village on October 7th and haven’t been back I think uh we have to see a change something must change because we left our house without nothing the family has spent the past seven months in a hotel and only now moved into this house about 40 km away deep inside the government designated safe Zone carel says without military action to push Hezbollah back she won’t risk returning home with her kids there is no option with no war we must feel um all the citizens of the north border or the northern border confidence again which we are not it will end this situation of um uncertainty right now we are living in a big uncertainty and how long can people live like that so we must see something it’s a position held by so many as diplomatic efforts to broker a truce continue to fail Hezbollah insists that so long as Israel refuses to end its campaign in Gaza it will continue targeting positions in Israel’s North no matter what happens these communities are changed forever with people putting Roots down in New places while Israel’s northern border turns for now into no man’s land and Let’s cross now to Beirut for our bureau chief Muhammad sha could you talk us through the latest updates of the situation on on the Lebanese side of the Border well Ben allow me to pick up from where the report and this is a key element to analyze and understand the situation on the Lebanese Israeli uh border sobah has been clear about its intention that the um ceasefire in Gaza is the key to um any solution in southern Lebanon so as of now the daily exchange of fire between has and the Israeli Army did not stop since October 8 except for some time during the um truce in Gaza last November but since then the military confrontation is a uh daily routine even though in inconsistent pace and um intensity but a new round of escalation started last Sunday since hasah since then hisbah is is um announcing that it is carrying out at least 9 to 12 military operations on Israeli positions and Israeli uh towns along the border with Lebanon and that’s that’s uh per day compared to three to six daily operations uh last week uh only and this comes of course with extens fire force from the Israeli Army who who’ve been uh carrying air strikes like heavy air strikes on Lebanese uh towns it is worth noting that this scenario of escalation has been um repeatedly we’ve been repeatedly uh seeing this simultaneously with every round of talks about a potential truce deal in Gaza the Israeli defense minister warned of a precarious summer ahead what are you hearing from people in Lebanon well there are mixed feelings and expectations uh about a large scale war in in Lebanon unlike like what we’ve seen and and listened to in the report uh from residents in Northern Israel the majority of Lebanese and mainly those who uh used to live in the southern town um um um in in southern Lebanon and and mainly where hasah has extensive support they don’t want to go to war and they don’t expect a large scale War they do Echo hb’s leadership in saying that this is not our war and uh what is happening in the south is limited and and calculated attacks to support uh uh Gaza now there’s a lot of public uh and political divide on whether it did support Gaza or not and on the fact that hisbah Solly took the decision to launch military operations on uh Israel without consensus and without consulting his Partners in the uh government but there we are I mean with daily crossb shelling and some 100,000 Lebanese refugees from homes and and towns in south of Lebanon just like in the North of Israel it is by far in no man’s land DW’s Muhammad traitor there thank you for chiming in

Tensions on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon are growing. The Israel Defense Forces have been engaged in cross-border fire with the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah – which has been firing rockets into northern Israel almost daily. Tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border have been displaced.
Residents of northern Israel say Hezbollah must be pushed back, to protect communities from its rockets. Many say it’s only a matter of time before a full-scale confrontation takes place.

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