in the Middle East tensions between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon continue to escalate hospitals in Northern Israel have now been told to prepare for a mass casualty scenario if War breaks out journalist Sarah Coots is in Tel Aviv with more these hospitals up in Israel’s North they have been put on war mode and as you mentioned they have been drilling for what they’re calling a mass casualty event where many many people could be brought into these fac facilities so what we do know is that many of these hospitals up in the north they actually have underground bunkers so all of these wards that people would be brought into our underground and uh very much protected but uh obviously not completely protected from any rocket attacks now we do have unconfirmed reports coming in just over the last couple of minutes that an explosive drone has hidden area in Israel’s Golan Heights severely injuring a number of soldiers still no clarification on that but what we can tell you is these tit forat strikes are continuing across that border with Israel and Lebanon with both Israeli leaders and also Iranian leaders basically saying that if in fact the Israelis do attack in Lebanon that this would be an obliterating War so certainly a lot of concern here over any potential miscalculation that could see the region slip into an allout conflict that was journalist Sarah Coats in in t Aviv and I want to stay on this story now I’m joined by hanen gadar for her take on the likelihood of War and what we’re seeing with this escalation she’s a senior fellow at the Washington Institute thanks very much for taking the time thank you very much for having me so I want to start with that statement there Iran’s un Mission saying this week if Israel embarks on a full-scale military aggression in Lebanon quote an obliterating war with will ensue what do you make of this statement the purpose of this statement was it in your mind to provoke or to deter uh this is the question the main question today so I think every statement coming out today from every state and every actor is to deter everybody’s do using narrative escalation in order the goal of this narrative escalation in addition parallel to some military escalation to some changes to the rules of the engagement on the border is all in the purp the main purpose of it is really to avoid the big scale war and to force the other party to uh to make compromises today uh both Israel and Hezbollah do not need this War uh hezbollah’s calculations basically from the very beginning from the first thing that Hassan n leader of hasah said he said this is a Palestinian War this is not our War hezbollah’s main military assets are to protect Iran Iran’s nuclear program and Iran’s regime itself it’s not to protect Gaza or Palestinians or liberate Jerusalem this is no longer their priority if they use these assets today and go for the full War Iran will be exposed so for them this is not this this is definitely not an option and for the Israelis as well they do they they they do have more interest in in going and resolving the hasah risk on their on their border because after uh October 7th everyone now realizes that you cannot live with this kind of security risk on your border however the timing is of an Essence today the uh Israeli Army needs to wrap up Gaza they need to uh breathe a little bit restock and get the US support which is probably not going to happen before the elections so they need a few months before launching a new war to Lebanon but if they can get a compromise from hasballah they don’t need to go for that war because this war one it will be very damaging for Israel as well but also we don’t know if it’s actually going to resolve the hasah uh risk if it’s going to actually eliminate the hasah danger from Lebanon or if it’s going to actually be another War like 2006 which set back hasah uh a few years and then allowed them uh to uh to to strengthen in their military uh capabilities which is the case today and make them even more of a danger so this is why everybody is escalating in a narrative in order to avoid this war and force the other to compromise yeah and and when you speak of that narrative we’re hearing um just in the last day or so the Americans and the Europeans warning you know don’t count on the US or anyone else being able to hold off Israeli plans for an offensive in Lebanon what do you make of that uh of course you know at the end of the day even 2006 it wasn’t a US American decision it was sorry it wasn’t an Israeli us decision it was an Israeli decision and the US went ahead and supported it so if Israel wants to do today a war against Hezbollah the Americans can uh either this Administration or a next Administration this this this is a decision by Israel and the US can choose to support it or not but they can warn them they can tell them that we cannot give you as much as we as much as we can after the elections they can warn uh and give Alternatives but they cannot stop read the Israelis at the end of the day of launching war against Hezbollah if they feel this is vital for their security and it is true in a way but the Americans do have leverage that they can use they have the leverage of the arms weapon they the the arms sales they have the leverage of all the weapons that’s today is being transferred to Israel or held back this is a leverage of you know like a military cooperation with Israel that the US it’s not just political support what Israel needs from America is military support and logistical support and this is something that the Israelis today are really concerned about will America uh give them all the support if they go without their blessing but in any case in any case the Israelis also need to rest they have a very exhausted Army today despite the fact that they do have a military uh deployment at the border that are not involved in Gaza and they’re just there at the border they cannot maintain this forever at one point the political agreement is is a must the problem with the political agreement is who’s going to make more compromises and where the buffer zone is going to be today hasbullah is trying to keep the buffer zone North of Israel making sure that the North of Israel is empty the residents cannot come back and they’re using this as a leverage for negotiations the Israelis are using their their um military force in order to create the other part of the border as a buffer zone using the military uh uh the scorched land uh strategy in orderers to make sure that if 5 km away from the Lebanese border into Lebanon is unlivable and the military infrastructure of hasah is completely eliminated this is where the buffer zone today the negotiations over who where the buffer zone is and because there’s no way Israel is going to accept hisbah at its border and Hezbollah is trying its best today to make sure that the Norse is UN unoccupied to make to to to try to get from these negotiations as much as they can internally for Iran and for themselves but both need it both definitely need this kind of agreement uh that at least leads to a ceasefire and then later we will see what happens but they both need a ceasefire at this point we’ll certainly be watching uh as this story continues to unfold in the coming days that’s all the time we have but I want to thank you for taking the time to uh speak with us today that’s hanen gdar
Cross-border attacks between Israel and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah militants are continuing to cause fear. Hospitals in northern Israel have been told to prepare for a ‘mass casualty scenario.’ Hanin Ghaddar, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute, talks about what a full-scale war could mean for both countries.
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