By Athena Papakosta

The Middle East has been hanging by a thread for months, and what happened in the early hours of Sunday morning between Israel and Hezbollah was a major escalation that rekindled fears of a generalization of hostilities.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that Israel’s airstrikes to prevent what he says is an imminent large-scale attack by Hezbollah on Israeli territory “is not the end of history”.

For his part, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, in a speech on Sunday afternoon, emphasized that the Iranian-backed Shiite group’s operation was completed exactly as planned, emphasizing how its forces managed to break through Israeli air defenses . However, he pointed out that the possibility of further strikes remains open if – when the results of Sunday’s operation are assessed – they are deemed insufficient.

And while both Netanyahu and Nasrallah may not rule out Israel and Hezbollah continuing to play the fire game, two diplomats, who were not named by Reuters, pointed out that both the two sides came into contact through third parties confirming that they do not wish to extend the conflict.

The entire region – and not only – has been waiting for about a month, Hezbollah’s response to the assassination of its leader, Fouad Shukr, on July 30, in the heart of Lebanon, Beirut, but also Iran’s response to the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniya in Tehran a day later. The Iranian-backed Shiite organization responded first, while Tehran still chooses silence.

The ongoing diplomatic struggle in recent months is intent on preventing the war from spilling over from the Gaza Strip, with the United States warning that if there is no agreement in talks on a ceasefire and the release of the hostages, these diplomatic efforts of the past 10 months will be crowned with absolute… failure.

Today, Israel and Hezbollah declare winners. On the one hand, Israel emphasizes that by using 100 fighter jets, it successfully prevented the large-scale attack planned by Hezbollah, and on the other hand, the Shiite organization carried out the first act of retaliation against Israel by launching, as it said, at least 300 rockets and manned aircraft.

According to analysts, however, both sides have shown that they can go to extremes but, in the end, they did not dare to do so because they do not wish to. But the question of whether Sunday’s escalation could light a fire that will be difficult to extinguish remains unanswered.

Military observers, notes the British TheGuardian, report that after what unfolded yesterday, military officials and the Minister of Defense of Israel, Yoav Gallad, are in favor of the continuation of Israeli strikes against Hezbollah military targets. After all, the fact remains that the Israeli prime minister is under pressure for the return of the approximately 80,000 displaced Israeli civilians to their homes in the north of the country along the border with Lebanon.

“Nasrallah in Beirut and Khamenei in Tehran must know that this is another step to change the situation in the north of our country,” said Benjamin Netanyahu.

At the same time, Israel’s allies once again expressed their support against Hezbollah but called for restraint in order to avoid a generalized war.

“The United States will continue to support Israel’s right to defend itself and work for regional stability,” White House National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said, noting that US President Joe Biden had asked senior officials to be in close communication with Israel.