Israel has shut down civil aviation in the occupied Golan Heights today, and is deploying its Iron Dome defensive missiles to the northern border, as they await potential retaliation from Hezbollah for a weekend attack.
Over the weekend, Israel attacked and killed five Hezbollah members, along with an Iranian general. The UN today confirmed the Israeli violation of the 1974 ceasefire with Syria in the attack.
Though Israeli officials initially downplayed the chances of Hezbollah retaliating, former officials say it is a foregone conclusion, and that Hezbollah is virtually obliged to retaliate.
The risk of a new war with Hezbollah looms large, and could well be a chance for the Netanyahu government to gain some more voter support ahead of the March election, as the prime minister has often benefited politically from conflict, and his poll numbers haven’t been doing great recently.
