On the anniversary of the terror, there is a threat of new escalation in the Middle East

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Lerato Khumalo

Military tensions

On the anniversary of the terror, there is a threat of new escalation in the Middle East

Updated on October 7, 2024 – 1:48 p.mReading time: 4 minutes

Enlarge the imageRelatives and friends mourn on October 7th. (Source: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa/dpa-bilder)

October 7 marks the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. A year later, Israel is waging a multi-front war and the region is staring into the abyss.

One year after the terrorist attack on Israel by the Islamist Hamas, the Middle East region is on the brink of an abyss. While Israelis are commemorating the massacre of October 7, 2023 in their homeland, the conflict with Iran is threatening to reach a new level of escalation. In Tehran, the government expressed concern in anticipation of an Israeli counterattack and warned of an escalation. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards fired around 200 rockets at Israel almost a week ago.

Since the outbreak of the Gaza war, Israel has been waging a multi-front war against militant Islamist groups supported by the Iranian government, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel has come under international criticism for its conduct of the war in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. At the same time, Jews worldwide are facing a rise in anti-Semitism. A military escalation between Iran and Israel is becoming increasingly likely.

Iran’s new government spokeswoman warned of a conflagration in the region. The Islamic Republic will not stop protecting its right to self-defense, Fatemeh Mohajerani told the state news agency Irna. Referring to the Iranian missile attack, she added: “We hope that the Zionist regime has received sufficient deterrence and does not overstep its borders.”

Iran’s political and military leadership had threatened to retaliate more devastatingly than before in the event of an Israeli counterattack. Among other things, an Israeli attack on Iran’s oil industry, facilities in the controversial nuclear program and air strikes against rocket production are being discussed. The majority of Iranian society does not want war and is critical of the government’s military course.

If open war breaks out, the Revolutionary Guards, Iran’s elite military force, have threatened to strike Israel’s energy supplies. The daily newspaper “Hamschahri” published an article at the weekend with 35 potential targets in Israel – including power plants, train stations, airports and military installations. International humanitarian law prohibits attacks on civilian infrastructure.

A year after the start of the Gaza war, there was another rocket alarm in the greater Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv. Explosions could be heard in the city center, residents reported. The army said the alarm was triggered by bullets from the Gaza Strip. The details are still being investigated, it said.

The Magen David Adom rescue service announced that two women were slightly injured by bullet fragments. The Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip said it fired two rockets into Tel Aviv. In recent weeks there have been several rocket alarms in Tel Aviv due to attacks from Iran, Lebanon and Yemen. Hamas last targeted Tel Aviv with rockets in August.

Meanwhile, dozens of relatives of the hostages kidnapped from Israel and sympathizers demonstrated in front of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s house. At 6:29 a.m., the exact time a year ago when Hamas and other extremist groups from the Gaza Strip invaded southern Israel, rally participants sounded a so-called “wake-up siren” for two minutes. They then sang the national anthem, Channel 13 News reported.

The protesters called on Netanyahu to reach an agreement to release the hostages. On October 7th of the previous year, the Islamists from Gaza not only carried out an unprecedented massacre with 1,200 deaths, but also abducted around 250 people to the coastal strip. In the only agreement to date, Hamas released 105 hostages last November. The Israeli army was able to free a handful of hostages. Many of the kidnapping victims are now believed to be dead.

In Lebanon, where Israel is fighting the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia, the army increased its ground troops. The Israeli military said soldiers from the 91st Division had begun operations in the south of the country. The division is made up of three brigades of Israeli reservists. An Israeli army division, three of which are now involved in operations in Lebanon, can typically contain several thousand soldiers. Israel is keeping the exact number of soldiers secret in the ground offensive in Lebanon as well as in the ongoing operations in the Gaza Strip.

Since announcing the new ground offensive about a week ago, Israel’s army has been talking about “targeted and localized” operations in the hostile neighboring country. It is unclear how long the first Israeli invasion of Lebanon in decades could actually last and how far ground troops could move into the country.

In Lebanon, telecommunications services were disrupted in several parts of the country following repeated Israeli attacks. Networks in the capital Beirut and in the areas around Tyre, Sidon and Nabatijeh were affected, among others, said the organization NetBlocks, which is best known for monitoring Internet blocks. There were losses of internet connections in these regional networks. Lebanon’s communication network infrastructure was already considered weak before the conflict.