Hizbullah, the Lebanese Shiite militia, this morning joined the conflict between the Palestinian militias in Gaza and Israel with the launch of several artillery shells in the north of the country, in the border area known as the Chebaa Farms. In response, the IDF has responded by launching rockets into southern Lebanon.
The risk of an extension of the conflict to the militias operating in the West Bank, southern Lebanon and even on the Syrian border is yet to be determined. At the moment, the Hezbollah militia is the one maintaining the loudest rhetoric with its threats against Israel. At an event held this morning in the Dahieh district of Beirut, one of its leaders, Hashemm Saffieddine, stated that "our history, our rifles and our rockets are with you" in relation to the Palestinians.
The Israel Defense Forces have spent the entire night bombing Hamas infrastructure in Gaza. However, so far there has not been a land invasion of this strip of Palestinian territory, as some analysts predicted.
The conflict, the most serious in decades, already has around 350 dead on the Israeli side (official information, although television stations raise the figure to 600) and 313 dead on the Palestinian side, in addition to hundreds of wounded on both sides. The Israeli army has mobilized thousands of soldiers in the south of the country, in the area adjacent to Gaza. Clashes between Palestinian and Israeli militiamen continue in that region of the country. Unofficial sources speak of hundreds of deaths among Palestinians. However, the situation is so unstable that the Army is considering evacuating the entire population of the Israeli communities in the area.
Nor are the exact numbers known of the people who have been kidnapped by Hamas as a method of negotiating with the State of Israel for the release of Palestinian militants in prisons. However, the number of kidnapped people is so high that it can become a real problem for Israel. Israel has asked Egypt, the main mediator between Palestine and the Jewish State, to intercede and help negotiate the release of the kidnapped people, as well as the bodies held by the militants, as one of the conditions to stop the conflict between both parties.
On the other hand, this morning an Egyptian police officer shot two Israeli tourists and their Egyptian guide in the city of Alexandria. It is unknown if the attack is related to the conflict. The authorities of cities such as London, Paris and Berlin have reinforced the security of their embassies in anticipation of possible riots.
