THE growing conflict between Hezbollah and Israel continues to threaten to escalate into a full-blown war with almost daily exchanges of fire along Lebanon’s frontier with northern Israel since Hamas fighters in Gaza staged an assault on southern Israel on October 7.

The situation to the north worsened this month after an Israeli air strike killed a senior Hezbollah military commander in southern Lebanon. 

The Iran-backed Islamist group, a major player in Lebanese politics, retaliated by firing hundreds of rockets and explosive drones into northern Israel.