Even as Israeli forces continue to battle Hamas terrorists inside the Gaza Strip, tensions appear to be rising on Israel’s northern border as the Iranian-backed Shiite terrorist group Hezbollah in Lebanon ramped up its rocket fire and Israel responded, hitting military targets and killing one of its top, elite commanders.
Despite efforts by U.S. and French mediators to negotiate a solution that would prevent another major conflict breaking out in the region, the odds of a second war for Israel, against another Iranian proxy, seem to be drawing closer.
"I do believe that Hezbollah is interested in a war and it is doing everything it can to drive Israel into a war," Sarit Zehavi, founder and president of the Alma Education and Research Center, which is located on Israel’s northern border and focuses on the security challenges there, told Fox News Digital.
"Hezbollah has created a situation in the northern part of Israel that is unbearable for Israelis and unbearable for the State of Israel," she said. "They know that at a certain point, Israel will say enough is enough and will be forced to launch a military campaign."
Zehavi, who herself resides a few miles from Israel’s border with Lebanon, is one of more than 80,000 Israeli civilians who were evacuated from their homes four months ago over fears that Hezbollah, a U.S. designated terror group, would open a second front with Israel as it went to war against Hamas in Gaza.
"There is already a war going on here in the north," Zehavi said. "It’s not a full-scale war yet, because neither side is using its full capabilities, but every day we are seeing rockets launched into Israel."
While Hezbollah’s rocket, missile and armed drone attacks have been ongoing since Oct. 7, when thousands of Hamas terrorists from the Gaza Strip infiltrated southern Israel, murdering more 1,200 people and taking a further 240 as hostages, over the past week the number of attacks have escalated and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has responded, hitting an increasing number of sites across southern Lebanon.
Last week, a barrage of rockets fired from Lebanese territory scored a direct hit on the Israeli border town of Kiryat Shmona, seriously injuring a woman and her son. The following day, Feb. 14, Hezbollah targeted an army base deeper inside Israel, killing one IDF soldier and wounding several others.
In response, Israeli fighter jets struck what the army described as military targets – observation posts, weapons storage facilities and compounds – it said belonged to Hezbollah. On Wednesday, Israel said it killed a commander and six fighters from Hezbollah’s elite Radwan unit and local media reported that the strike killed at least 10 civilians in the area as well. Israel named the Radwan commander as Ali Muhammad Aldbas.
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