Politics Signs of de-escalation after Hezbollah attack on Israel

The situation in the Middle East has stabilized after the fierce military exchange of blows between the Lebanese Hezbollah militia and the Israeli army, but remains tense. The US Department of Defense instructed the US military to leave two aircraft carriers and their escort ships in the region. In the late evening, according to the Israeli army, Hamas, which is allied with Hezbollah, fired a rocket from the south of the Gaza Strip in the direction of Tel Aviv, but it hit an open area south of the Israeli coastal metropolis.

According to paramedics, a woman was injured as she rushed to a shelter. Earlier, talks on a ceasefire in the Egyptian capital Cairo had remained inconclusive. The Israeli delegation left after just a few hours, according to sources at Cairo airport. Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and the Hamas representatives also left the city. Egyptian security sources told the German Press Agency that there was a "difficult stalemate".

Efforts to avoid a conflagration

With a ceasefire and the release of hostages, the USA, Qatar and Egypt also want to ensure that there is no conflagration in the region. They are mediating in the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas, which has been going on for almost eleven months, as both sides refuse to hold direct talks with each other. Following the large-scale rocket attack by Hezbollah on Israel and the counter-attacks by the Israeli military in Lebanon, the regional military powers have signaled their desire to avoid a spiral that could lead to a major conflict in the Middle East, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, which is allied with Iran, used a comparatively restrained tone following the attack: "Our goal from the beginning was not to attack civilians, but military targets." In his usual sharp rhetoric against Israel, Nasrallah also said that attacks on Israel by Iran and the Houthi militia in Yemen were still imminent. Hezbollah also reserved the option of further attacks. However, the reaction to the killing of its military commander Fuad Shukr by Israel at the end of July is over for the time being - and Lebanon can "take a deep breath".

Netanyahu: "Not the end of the story"

Before the attack early on Sunday morning, Israel's army said it had recognized an "imminent danger to the citizens of the State of Israel" and began attacking numerous targets in southern Lebanon. The army had destroyed thousands of rockets aimed at northern Israel and "removed many other threats", said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. However, this was "not the end of the story".

Hezbollah does not want a major war, Danny Citrinowicz of the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv told the Wall Street Journal. Mohanad Hage Ali, deputy director for research at the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, told the newspaper that the limited losses on the Israeli side made it clear that Hezbollah wanted to keep the conflict within limits.

According to the military, one soldier was killed in Israel. According to media reports, the 21-year-old on a naval boat was hit by falling parts of an Israeli defensive missile. Three people died in Lebanon.

The Houthis praised the "great and courageous attack" by Hezbollah. Hamas spoke of a "slap in the face" of the Israeli government. A possible second phase of retaliation is likely to depend largely on the course of the Gaza negotiations.

USA assures Israel of support

In a telephone conversation with his Israeli counterpart Joav Galant, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reaffirmed Israel's right to defend itself, according to the Pentagon. At the same time, he assured Galant of the "iron resolve" of the USA to support Israel in its defense against threats from Iran and its regional partners.

Meanwhile, US Chief of Staff Charles Brown arrived in Israel in the evening. Among others, he will meet the Israeli Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi, the Israeli military announced. Brown's talks will focus on security policy and strategic issues in view of the threats in the Middle East. The Israeli military will continue to deepen relations with the US armed forces in order to strengthen regional stability and coordination between the two forces.

The USA is Israel's most important ally. It recently deployed additional warships, aircraft and a missile-equipped submarine to the region - probably also to be able to support Israel in the event of an attack by forces in Lebanon or Iran. In addition to the aircraft carrier "USS Theodore Roosevelt", which was already stationed there, the aircraft carrier "USS Abraham Lincoln" and its escort ships have also been in the region since last week.

Polio vaccine brought into the Gaza Strip

Meanwhile, following warnings of a massive polio outbreak, vaccines against the disease have been brought into the embattled Gaza Strip. Vaccines for 1.25 million people have been transported to the coastal strip via the Kerem Shalom border crossing, according to Cogat, the Israeli authority responsible for Palestinian affairs.

"In the coming days, international and local medical teams will vaccinate previously unvaccinated children against polio at various locations in the Gaza Strip," the statement said. UN representatives had called for a ceasefire to allow polio vaccinations for hundreds of thousands of children in the war zone.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, had expressed great concern at X on Friday about the case of a ten-month-old baby. The child from Deir al-Balah in the center of Gaza was the first confirmed polio diagnosis in the Gaza Strip in 25 years. In view of the high risk of infection, the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the WHO and the UN Children's Fund, Unicef, are aiming for two rounds of vaccinations in the coming weeks.

SDA