Creeping escalation along Israel-Lebanon border brings risk of bigger war

sv1sjp@lemmy.world to World News@lemmy.world – 29 points –
washingtonpost.com
2

This is the best summary I could come up with:


Saturday saw Israeli jets strike an aluminum factory in the Lebanese town of Nabatieh, 12 miles north of the border — well beyond the traditional zone in which retaliatory fire has been considered acceptable by both sides.

Israeli officials have also ramped up their rhetoric: “Lebanon’s citizens will bear the cost of this recklessness, and of Hezbollah’s decision to be the defender of Hamas-ISIS,” Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said last week.

The bars and hotels are empty now and there are few customers at the quay side restaurants “We want peace and we want food on our table,” said Sami Rizk, a fisherman who said demand for his daily catch has halved.

Altogether, more than 46,000 Lebanese have escaped the border region to safer parts of the country and the number is growing by the day, according to figures provided by the International Organization for Migration.

Most Lebanese are convinced that Israel has a long-term plan to take over the country, said Samir Hussein, an engineer living in Tyre who runs an organization dedicated to civic dialogue.

Israel’s heightened rhetoric and the prospect of a decisive Hamas defeat has left Hezbollah with difficult choices, said Mohammed Obeid, a political analyst close to the group.


The original article contains 1,090 words, the summary contains 206 words. Saved 81%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

If we use the analogy of a bar fight. There is an ongoing brawl between two partues. One of the combatants is for reasons now jabbing punches at another person in the pub. Perhaps pre-emtively in case they might think of helping out the other guy. The other drinkers nearest the brawl have their own views, to be determined. The self proclaimed bouncers from the bar next door, but with interests here too, have made some supportive comments. Will these bouncers be wanting to enter this bar, at this time and either cool things down all round, or mind the back of their pal. Most people just want to get on with their own thing but worry that they'll be caught up in a brawl.