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Palestinians leave Rafah in fear of an Israeli military operation in the southern Gaza Strip, on Feb. 13, 2024.

REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

Israeli strikes in Lebanon revive concerns about widening war

Israel launched airstrikes in Lebanon on Wednesday, killing at least 10 civilians, in response to a suspected Hezbollah rocket attack that killed an Israeli soldier. Hezbollah on Thursday said Israel would "pay the price for these crimes."

The US raised alarm about the potential for escalation and pushed for a diplomatic resolution to the tensions.

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Members of Lebanon's Hezbollah wave Hezbollah and Lebanese flags during a rally in southern Lebanon marking the ninth anniversary of the end of the 2006 war with Israel, August 14, 2015.

REUTERS/Aziz Taher

Will Israel invade Lebanon?

Israel is getting fed up with Hezbollah as it continues to exchange cross-border fire with the powerful Iran-backed Lebanese militant group, which has close ties to Hamas. On Thursday, an Israeli government spokesperson urged the international community to speak out now against Hezbollah’s “brazen” actions “instead of later criticizing our decisive response.”

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An Israeli tank fires towards Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, at the Israel-Gaza border, in southern Israel, December 27, 2023.

REUTERS/Amir Cohen

The war in Gaza has turned the Middle East into a powder keg

The risks of a regional war in the Middle East are rising, as a number of different actors with competing interests and historic rivalries become increasingly entangled amid the war in Gaza.

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Iran is protecting itself through restraint in Israel-Hamas war, says Kim Ghattas
Iran is protecting itself through restraint in Israel-Hamas war, says Kim Ghattas | GZERO World

Iran is protecting itself through restraint in Israel-Hamas war, says Kim Ghattas

Will Iran use Hezbollah fighters to help Hamas in Gaza?

On GZERO World, Ian Bremmer spoke with Beirut-based journalist Kim Ghattas about the rising tensions on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, as Israeli Defense Forces and Hezbollah fighters exchange daily rocket fire and thousands of people on both sides flee their homes. Like Hamas, Hezbollah has an eradicationist ideology that calls for the destruction of the state of Israel, a position that could be untenable if the border clashes continue to escalate. Hezbollah is Iran’s most powerful proxy, but Ghattas doesn’t think it’s in Tehran’s interest to use the militant group to further Hamas’s goals.

“For 44 years Iran has claimed that is a supporter of the Palestinian people,” Ghattas explains, “I think Iran has come to realize that its use of the Palestinian cause has bumped up against the limits of what’s possible.”

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Will Israel's mistakes with Hezbollah be repeated with Hamas?
Will Israel's mistakes with Hezbollah be repeated with Hamas? | Kim Ghattas | GZERO World

Will Israel's mistakes with Hezbollah be repeated with Hamas?

Is Israel doomed to repeat the mistakes from its Lebanon invasion in Gaza?

For Lebanese people, it’s difficult not to see the current war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza through the lens of Israeli occupation. On GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, Beirut-based journalist Kim Ghattas explains why the history of Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon is incredibly relevant today: it led to a two-month siege where the city was cut off from food, water and fuel and killed 17,000 people. Now, a similar situation is playing out in Gaza and Israel is at risk of repeating the mistakes of the past. Ghattas reminds Bremmer that despite the thousands of civilian casualties, Israel failed to accomplish its strategic goals during the Lebanon invasion and is at risk of the same in Gaza.

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Israel, Hamas, and Hezbollah: Fears of escalation grow
Israel, Hamas, and Hezbollah: Fears of escalation grow | GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

Israel, Hamas, and Hezbollah: Fears of escalation grow

Could clashes with Hezbollah on the Lebanon border lead to a wider war in the Middle East?

How likely is it that the Israel-Hamas war escalates throughout the Middle East? On GZERO World, Ian Bremmer sits with Beirut-based journalist Kim Ghattas for the on-the-ground perspective from across Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. With clashes between Israeli defense forces and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group, increasing on the border and Houthi rebels attacking commercial cargo ships in the Red Sea, tensions in the region are extremely high. Lebanon has a long history of Israeli invasion, which has a huge impact on how people there view the events in Gaza, where over 18,000 people have been killed since October 7th.

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Ian Explains: How Hezbollah became so powerful in Lebanon
Ian Explains: How Hezbollah became so powerful in Lebanon | GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

Ian Explains: How Hezbollah became so powerful in Lebanon

Tensions on Israel's northern border with Lebanon are heating up amid daily exchanges of rocket fire between Israeli Defense Forces and Hezbollah fighters. Fears are growing that Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza could spread to a broader regional conflict because Hezbollah is Iran's most powerful proxy force. On Ian Explains, Ian Bremmer unpacks Hezbollah's role within Lebanon, its history of fighting Israel in the south, and how Iran uses the militant group to further its interests in the region.

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A mangrove forest is seen in Matang in Malaysia's northern state of Perak. Picture taken July 29, 2003

REUTERS/Bazuki Muhammad BM/PB

Hard Numbers: Pakistan plants mangroves, Hezbollah-Israel clashes deepen, Bidenomics goes bust, Liberians decide a runoff, Italy recaptures king of the jungle

142 million: A Pakistani project to revive mangrove forests in the Indus River Delta could absorb as much as 142 million tons of carbon dioxide over the next 60 years. Mangroves not only prevent erosion, they also sequester huge amounts of greenhouse gasses. But the project has stirred controversy, as it is backed by a company that is promoting it to sell carbon credits to polluting companies.

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