The UK’s former ambassador to Yemen has warned that Israel will not be able to “wipe out” Hezbollah with its ground invasion of Lebanon.
A shocking warning has been issued to Israel that its recent ground invasion of Lebanon campaign “cannot wipe out Hezbollah.”
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) made the announcement in the early hours of Tuesday morning that its troops had crossed into Lebanon for “limited, localized, and targeted” raids against Hezbollah.
The Israeli military confirmed the deaths of eight IDF soldiers in southern Lebanon the following day. These soldiers were the first to die during the ground invasion.
The border towns of Maroun Al Ras and Adaisseh, according to Hezbollah, saw fighting between its fighters and the IDF. Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, expressed his condolences to the soldiers’ families and referred to them as “heroes.”
Fears of an all-out war in the Middle East have arisen as a result of this conflict’s escalation, particularly since Iran got involved and fired 180 missiles at Israel on Monday to show its support for Hezbollah, its most powerful and well-armed proxy.
Israel has been warned that its recent airstrikes and ground invasion may not be sufficient to completely eliminate Hamas, the militant group it is currently fighting in Gaza. The Hezbollah group is seen as posing a greater threat to Israel than Hamas.
These worries were exacerbated by Edmund Fitton-Brown, senior adviser at the Counter Extremism Project and former UK ambassador to Yemen.
He mentioned the Yemeni Houthi rebels, one more member of Iran’s “axis of resistance,” as an additional threat to take into account as the Middle East conflict could spread.
While Fitton-Brown acknowledged the significance of both organizations, she emphasized that Hezbollah is the more “crucial Iranian asset” and warned that Israel cannot stop it.
According to the Daily Express, Iran sees the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Houthis as important for different reasons. Both cannot take the place of the other.