JERUSALEM, Israel – As the war with Hamas in Gaza rages with little sign of ending soon, fighting along Israel's northern border is intensifying. Israel says Hezbollah is trying to draw the military into another conflict along the border with Lebanon and Syria, and Iran is backing all three of Israel's foes, including the Houthis in Yemen.
Hezbollah began attacking Israel from the north when Hamas attacked near Gaza on October 7th, and the most powerful force in Lebanon has been increasing those attacks since then, with Israel responding.
Israel Defense Forces Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari insisted, "Hezbollah is trying to drag the country of Lebanon and the region into this war that Hamas started. If Hezbollah continues, they will bear the consequences and the responsibility for the outcome."
Israel said Hezbollah fired an anti-tank missile at a Greek Orthodox church in northern Israel, wounding two Israeli Christians. When IDF troops arrived to evacuate the injured, Hezbollah fired at the church again, wounding nine Israeli soldiers.
Shortly after that, Hezbollah attacked Israel from a mosque in southern Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Israeli soldiers in Gaza and outlined conditions for the post-war administration in Gaza in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. "Hamas must be destroyed, Gaza must be demilitarized, and Palestinian society must be deradicalized," he wrote.
Netanyahu said after those objectives are met, Gaza could be rebuilt and "the prospects of a broader peace in the Middle East will become a reality."
Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy called the prime minister's pronouncement "the 3-D version of peace between Israel and our neighbors in Gaza."
Other parts of the region are simmering as well, with Iranian fingerprints all over the place. Israel says it shot down a "hostile aerial target" early Wednesday near the Red Sea.
Also, the U.S. military carried out retaliatory airstrikes against Iranian-backed groups after three U.S. service members were injured in a drone attack.
And the Iranian Defense Ministry promised "a smart and strong" response to Israel's earlier alleged airstrike near Damascus, Syria, that killed one of Iran's top generals, Sayyed Raza Mousavi.
Iran claimed it has recently tripled its production of near weapons-grade uranium – a stepping-stone to a nuclear bomb.
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