The "Axis of the Resistance" has been informed about Hezbollah's intention to respond to Israel imminently, confirmed sources within the decision-making leadership. The main offices of militant leadership and all gathering of forces have been abandoned or forbidden, and
a state of full alert has been declared in preparation for a possible Israeli decision to go to war. In Iran, Syria and Palestine, the finger is on the trigger. Is the Middle East going to war? Actually, it all depends on how far - and in which direction - the Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to go: and the degree to which he will accept, or not, the hit back from Hezbollah.
This all snowballed when, from al-Ayen in the Bekaa Valley, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah launched his
threat against Israel.
He swore to down drones violating Lebanese sovereignty and threatened to kill Israelis. This would be carried out in retaliation for the Israeli killing of two Hezbollah members in Syria, and for sending suicide drones to hit Hezbollah high-value objectives and capabilities in the suburbs of Beirut. Netanyahu responded a few hours later by bombing a position of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command (PFLP-GC) - in the same Bekaa Valley, to send a clear message to Sayyed Nasrallah:
Hezbollah's challenge is being acknowledged, and answered with another Israeli challenge. Now it is only a question of when, how, and at what cost the Hezbollah "bloody retaliation" will be, bloody because it is inevitable that Israeli soldiers will be killed.
Sayyed Nasrallah had no option but to respond to the Israeli violation of the Rule of Engagement (ROE) established since the 2006 third Israeli war on Lebanon.
If he fails to hit Israel and accepts the ongoing international mediation and politico-financial temptations offered to the Lebanese government to persuade him to renounce his promised attack, he loses his credibility, which is substantial right now. Moreover,
Israel would then be encouraged to hit more targets in Lebanon as it is doing in Iraq and in Syria for some years now, against hundreds of objectives. If Hezbollah refrains from responding as promised, Netanyahu will "get away with it": this boosts his chances in the forthcoming election.
Comment: Accusations without proof from known liars versus provable attacks by Israel on 4 Middle East countries in just the last few weeks - although the idea Hezbollah would be working to defend itself, with help from Iran, is not improbable - see: Israel opens new front against Lebanon, with two drones hitting Hezbollah targets in Beirut - Zionist entity now bombing 4 ME countries UPDATES