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Tel Aviv [Israel]May 27 (ANI/TPS): Israeli officials have warned that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah believes Israel has been greatly weakened by weeks of domestic political turmoil and may seek a dangerous escalation that could spark war.
For years, Nasrallah has likened Israeli society to a spider’s web — a flimsy structure without a foundation that is easily thrown aside. An Israeli security official told the Tazpit Press Service that divisions in Israeli society over a controversial judicial reform initiative are reinforcing the “spider web theory” in his head.
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“We understand that Nasrallah’s goal is another operation against Israel that will be a leap even from the failed Megiddo operation,” a senior Israeli political security official told TPS .
The official stressed that Nasrallah’s planned actions could trigger large-scale conflict in the region.
“We will not see the next operation as ‘Operation Megiddo 2’ but as ‘The Third Lebanon War’,” he said. Megiddo was referring to a roadside bomb attack at the Megiddo junction in northern Israel in March that injured an Israeli motorist. The man who planted the bomb was then killed by Israeli soldiers as he drove back to the Lebanese border. Explosives and a weapon were found inside the vehicle, and the terrorist was reportedly wearing a suicide belt.
Despite Nasrallah’s attempts to shift the blame to the Palestinians, the Israelis are well aware that Hezbollah was complicit and even launched the attack.
Israel’s security agencies have stressed that Nasrallah’s strategic intentions are clear, although his next steps are not yet mature.
“As he said in 2006, Nasrallah believes wholeheartedly that Israel is a ‘spider’s web,’ so he is betting on Israel’s weakness and Israel’s failure to respond,” an Israeli source told TPS.
Additionally, rocket fire from Hezbollah-held areas in southern Lebanon in April prompted Israel to strike back against Hamas targets in Lebanon. The fact that Nasrallah subsequently met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh indicated his participation in and approval of the operations, Israeli security officials told TPS.
As long as Nasrallah perceives Israel’s weakness, Hezbollah will continue to blame Hamas and other parties for recent and future events.
Moreover, Nasrallah’s actions were not limited to recent months. In the past, Hezbollah has launched drones at Israeli offshore gas rigs in an attempt to attack Israel’s borders and has threatened Israel not to attack tankers carrying illicit Iranian oil to Lebanon.
Hezbollah has also built 27 new bases along the Lebanese border under the guise of a fake environmental group. This has raised concerns among Lebanese Christians, who fear that Hezbollah’s presence in southern Lebanon puts their communities at risk of Israeli reprisals.
Experts also highlighted Iranian pressure and encouragement as factors influencing Nasrallah’s behaviour. Iran has been pressing Hamas and Hezbollah to coordinate military activity in what Tehran and its proxies call the Axis in Jerusalem. Reports suggest that Iran is actively establishing a coordination center for operations against Israel in southern Lebanon that includes Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad.
The center is specifically aimed at coordinating rocket attacks against Israel, for which Iran provides technical support and advisers.
At the same time, Lebanese resentment over Hamas’ presence on their soil has grown, especially after rockets fired into Israel from Hezbollah-held areas. Reports suggest that Lebanese officials have asked Nasrallah to halt Ismail Haniyeh’s visit and even considered arresting the Hamas leader. (ANI/TPS)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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