After the Hezbollah attack: how dangerous is the situation?
The Hezbollah militia says it has fired more than 320 rockets at Israel in the 'first phase' of the announced response to the killing of Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr just under a month ago. Immediately before the attack, the Israeli military launched pre-emptive strikes against dozens of militia positions in Lebanon. Europe's press weighs up the risk of further escalation.
Thwarted by the Iron Dome
Visão is impressed by Israel's defence capabilities:
“The reconnaissance capabilities of the Israelis remain remarkable. Even before the extremists' political and military leadership gave their troops the order to attack, Israeli aircraft, missiles and drones had already been deployed to Lebanon. This attack by Hezbollah is very similar to the one launched by Tehran against Israel a few months ago, which also failed. ... Deep anger and frustration is growing among the sworn enemies of the Israelis who are determined to destroy them: not only do the latter have their own state, now they are also protected by a virtually impenetrable shield.”
A growing threat
Israel's strength could become its Achilles heel, La Libre Belgique explains:
“The more Israel tries to protect itself by assassinating its worst enemies, the more it exposes itself to reprisals from groups that not only regenerate easily, but also appear to be inclined to coordinate their actions at some stage. And this is exactly what Israel's enemies want: to blind and neutralise the country's defences by targeting Iron Dome missile interception stations or military and civilian intelligence bases. This is the tricky equation that Israel's political and military leadership must solve.”
A stable stalemate
The taz does not believe that the war will spread:
“Looked at objectively, both sides have shown where they stand with their attacks. Hezbollah has responded to the death of its commander Fuad Shukr with a counter-attack. And it has once again demonstrated that it has a large arsenal of missiles and is capable of carrying out a coordinated attack. Israel, for its part, has shown that it has solid information on Hezbollah's infrastructure and can also fend off a significant attack. In a sense, this is a stalemate situation: neither Israel nor Hezbollah appear to have a real military-strategic advantage at this point.”
Only Hamas wants a major war
For Dagens Nyheter the large-scale attacks do not mark the start of an all-out war:
“The reason why a major war between Israel and Hezbollah, which would also involve Iran, has been avoided so far is that none of the parties wants it. Hezbollah is carrying out its attacks to show sympathy with Hamas. This is also what the leaders in Tehran want. Israel was forced to react. But nobody wanted things to get out of control. The only ones who really want that are the Hamas members. ... They must not be allowed to achieve this goal.”
Lasting peace can only come from within
Politiken pins its hopes on new leaders:
“More war and chaos is the last thing Israel, Palestine and Lebanon need. All three nations are held hostage by a group of extremist leaders who are indifferent to both international law and the suffering of the civilian population. In the short term, the outside world – especially the US, the EU and the Arab countries – must exert maximum pressure to prevent a further escalation of the crisis. In the longer term, the population must do its part to secure better leaders. It won't be easy; Hamas and Hezbollah are considered terrorist groups in the West, and Israel's democracy is in deep crisis. But ultimately, lasting peace can only come from within.”