Political analysts who spoke to the program "Gaza... What's Next?" believe that the Israeli occupation's focus will remain on the Gaza Strip despite the current escalation with Lebanon, and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeks to impose a fait accompli on the Palestinian sector.

In this context, writer and political analyst Ahmed Al-Hila said in his interview with the program "Gaza... What's Next?" that the Israeli escalation with Lebanon is imposing itself unexpectedly, but the focus will remain on Gaza, because Netanyahu was clear in his speech before the US Congress about what he wants from the sector. He wants to continue military operations there to impose a fait accompli policy, i.e. the occupation's remaining in the sector and managing it while creating a "client local authority" that implements what he wants.

He explained that what happened in the Rome talks intersects with the path that the occupation wants, as Netanyahu imposed more conditions that were not present in the Israeli paper announced by US President Joe Biden, including emphasizing the occupation's continued presence in the Philadelphi axis on the border with Egypt and at the Rafah crossing, as well as remaining in the Netzarim axis to remain in control of the movement of Gazan civilians from north to south.

However, managing the scene in the north is what may control the transformation of the Gaza Strip from primary to secondary, according to Al-Hila.

The Rome talks concluded yesterday, Sunday, to discuss the prisoner exchange deal and the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, and the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation quoted an Israeli official it described as informed as saying, "The Rome meeting was held for the sake of the meeting only, and no breakthrough occurred during it," adding that Netanyahu added a condition, which is to obtain in advance the names of the living prisoners who will be released in the first batch.

For his part, academic and expert in Israeli affairs Dr. Muhannad Mustafa says that the Israeli Prime Minister is concerned with the Gaza Strip, not Lebanon, and he does not want to enter into a war with the Lebanese Hezbollah and get involved in a comprehensive war before achieving the goals he wants in Gaza.

The occupation dilemma

The occupation is currently facing a major dilemma, Mustafa added, because it believes that it is obligated to respond to the incident in the town of Majdal Shams in the occupied Syrian Golan, but at the same time it is militarily, politically and civilly incapable of waging war with Lebanon, pointing out that there are fears among Israelis that Netanyahu will be unable to achieve goals on the northern front as is the case with him in Gaza.

It is worth noting that 12 people were killed as a result of a missile falling on a football stadium in the Druze town of Majdal Shams the day before yesterday, Saturday. Israel, which has occupied the Golan for decades, attributed the attack to the Lebanese Hezbollah, which the latter denied.

For his part, writer and political researcher Hadi Qabisi believes that the Israeli occupation will not be able to enter into a war with Hezbollah.

He said that Israel rushed to escalate with Lebanon without conducting investigations and presenting evidence regarding the incident that occurred in the town of Majdal Shams, but it began to back down and change its tone from burning Beirut and invading and destroying Lebanon to a painful response and hitting only one military target identified by the Israeli army.

Qubaisi linked the high-ceilinged Israeli statements after the Majdal Shams incident to internal political conflicts, as opponents are pressuring Netanyahu to embarrass him, knowing that he does not want to get involved in Lebanon, according to him.

According to Qubaisi, it is natural for Lebanon to be involved in confronting the occupation, not only because of Gaza, but because Lebanese national security is affected by what is happening there, noting that the occupation always has the intention of waging war on Lebanon.

Source: Al Jazeera