War threat as defence chief in US
Israel’s defence minister is visiting Washington even as cross-border attacks by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah threaten to lead to all-out war.
“We are prepared for any action that may be required in Gaza, Lebanon, and in more areas,” Yoav Gallant said yesterday. His words coincided with an announcement from Hezbollah that it had launched another attack in retaliation for Israeli airstrikes on Saturday targeting Hamas commanders in Gaza. The US and other countries have sought to de-escalate the conflict that has simmered since October. Tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee towns on both sides of the border.
On Sunday, Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said that once the intense fighting was over in Gaza, Israel would deploy more forces along the northern border.
Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader who commands tens of thousands of fighters and a massive arsenal of missiles, has threatened to fight without “constraints, rules or limits”. The Iranian-backed group hopes to pressure Israel into ending the war in Gaza, triggered by the Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7 in which 1200 Israelis were killed and more than 250 taken to Gaza as hostages, many of them children.
The US hopes a truce in Gaza will defuse the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, but Hamas has refused to agree to an American ceasefire proposal, insisting that it guarantee a permanent end to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli troops.
Washington is also concerned by the potential for unrest in the West Bank, where Israeli soldiers have regularly clashed with gunmen and protesters. A video that emerged on Saturday showing an Israeli military vehicle driving with a wounded Palestinian man tied to the bonnet caused outrage. Israel has pledged to investigate.
The man was wounded in an exchange of fire during a “counterterrorism” operation, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said.
“In violation of orders, the suspect was taken while tied on top of a vehicle,” it said in a statement. “The conduct of the forces in the video does not conform to the values of the IDF.” The man was handed over to Palestinian medics, it added.
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on Palestinian human rights, denounced the incident as “human shielding”.
Israel, the US and Britain have long accused Hamas of using civilians in Gaza as human shields by placing their fighters and weapons in schools or hospitals.
Human rights groups had in the past criticised Israel for forcing civilians to enter the hideouts of suspects to persuade them to surrender. The practice was outlawed in 2005. – The Times