All Eyes On Hezbollah As Tensions Rise On Israel Border

Beirut, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th May, 2021 ) :Israel's deadly Gaza offensive has many eyes trained on the Lebanese border for a Hezbollah reaction, but observers argue the movement is unlikely to risk an all-out conflict.

Incidents at the border in recent days have raised the temperature but, with Lebanon already on its knees amid a deep political and economic crisis, the group seems intent on refraining from an escalation.

"There is nothing that currently suggests escalation," said Sadiq al-Nabulsi, a Lebanese academic close to Hezbollah.

"But the decision to go to war traditionally falls on Israel.

" The only Lebanese faction to have kept its weapons after the 1975-90 civil war, Hezbollah now has a more powerful arsenal than the Lebanese national army.

It justifies this by emphasising its role of "resistance" against the Israeli enemy, a theme that still occupies a central place in the rhetoric of the movement.

Six years after Israel pulled out of Lebanon in 2000, the Lebanese militia and Israel fought a devastating 34-day war.

The 2006 conflict killed around 1,200 Lebanese and cost the country dearly by impacting infrastructure, investment and tourism.