By Athena Papakosta

For weeks the Middle East has been preparing for his retaliatory strike Israel at Iran. No one knows either how or when the reprisals will come. Israel’s Defense Minister, Joab Gallanton Wednesday he was clear. “When we hit Iran, the whole world will understand Israel’s military power,” he said, addressing pilots and crews at the Hajerim military base.

The targets to hit Israel are the subject of discussion between the Israeli leadership and Washington, which has called Tel Aviv not to strike against Tehran’s energy and/or nuclear infrastructure, for fear that the entire region and the United States will be dragged into a nightmare cycle of escalation, and even two weeks before the American elections.

Israel does not indicate that returning to peace is among its immediate priorities. After the war in the Gaza Strip, the front has been extended to the north for a month. War is back in Lebanon with Israeli armed forces striking for the first time in the heart of the 2,500-year-old Unesco World Heritage city of Tyre.

The Israeli strikes leveled six buildings, a breath away from the archaeological sites of the city which is almost 80 kilometers from Beirut, which now lives, every day, in fear of more deadly strikes. Last night once again huge clouds of smoke rose into the sky as night turned to day. The Israeli armed forces, this time, targeted the pro-Iranian broadcaster Al-Mayadeen.

With eyes firmly on Tehran, Israel announced that the Hashem Safieddinwho was expected to succeed Hassan Nasrallah as the leader of the Iran-backed Shiite group, was neutralized earlier in October along with Ali Hussein Huzeema, head of Hezbollah’s intelligence services.

The organization remains headless, but capable of launching daily rockets against Israel and especially against the Israeli city of Haifa. In fact, her attacks have increased and intensified in recent weeks. OR Hezbollah has already announced that he has now entered a “new phase of the war” targeting, last Saturday, the prime minister’s summer residence Benjamin Netanyahu in the coastal city of Caesarea.

At the same time the Secretary of State of the United States continues his trip to the Middle East. This is his 11th visit to the region since the start of the war. He has already met with the Israeli Prime Minister and the Israeli Defense Minister.

He has also spoken by phone with his Jordanian counterpart and traveled to Riyadh where he was received by the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia, Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

As it became known, after his visit to Qatar he will go to London where he will meet with his counterparts from the Arab states, thus continuing the efforts to reach a diplomatic solution, which will allow a ceasefire in the Strip Gaza and the release of hostages. But the hopes are slim.