Middle East & Africa | One big step closer

Israeli retaliation in Lebanon seems inevitable

But it still wants to avoid all-out war against Hizbullah

TOPSHOT-ISRAEL-SYRIA-GOLAN-LEBANON-PALESTINIAN-CONFLICT
Photograph: AFP via Getty Images
|MAJDAL SHAMS

FOR ALMOST ten months Israel and Hizbullah, a Lebanese Shia militia and political party, have stuck to unwritten rules in their low-intensity war. Both sides know their foe has fearsome firepower and so have tried to limit their strikes. They have aimed either for military targets or for evacuated border towns from which an estimated 150,000 civilians have fled.

More from Middle East & Africa

Hamas’s pick of Yahya Sinwar as leader makes a ceasefire less likely

The appointment of the architect of October 7th ties the group closer to Iran

The Middle East braces for wider war as Iran weighs its response

After Israeli strikes, America is rushing troops to the region and airlines are steering clear


Ethiopia is in the midst of a kidnapping epidemic

As the government hails a new IMF deal, lawlessness is spreading


Somaliland’s camel herders are milking it

Commercial dairies are scaling up an old trade

Will Hamas turn from war to politics?

The assassination of its political leader poses a string of dilemmas

Israeli strikes on Beirut and Tehran could intensify a regional war

At the very least, they will delay talks over a ceasefire in Gaza