This week’s shock attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas against Israel left the Middle East on a knife’s edge. The world remains focused on Israel’s unfolding military response in Gaza, which in the days ahead will surely prove long, punishing, and unpredictable. But meanwhile, fears of a broader regional war are growing, especially after Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, speaking from Lebanon, explicitly threatened expanding hostilities to new fronts. Such a development risks drawing in the US.
If Lebanese group Hezbollah enters the war against Israel, the hostilities in Gaza will become a sideshow. Hezbollah is the world’s most formidable non-state military. Hamas is but a much weaker underling. In 2006, Hezbollah fought Israel to a standstill following a devastating month-long war. It has since grown into a much more capable and experienced fighting force, boasting up to a hundred thousand fighters and estimated to have a similar number of missiles that can overwhelm Israeli defenses, rain down on its cities, and paralyse its economy.
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معهد الشرق الأوسط (MEI) هو منظمة تعليمية مستقلة وغير حزبية وغير ربحية. لا يشارك المعهد في أي أنشطة دعوية، وآراء الباحثين فيه تعبر عن آرائهم الشخصية. يرحب المعهد بالتبرعات المالية، لكنه يحتفظ بالسيطرة التحريرية الكاملة على أعماله، ولا تعكس منشوراته سوى آراء المؤلفين. للاطلاع على قائمة المتبرعين للمعهد، يرجى النقر هنا.
