Is War on Two Fronts Imminent?
IDF Chief of Staff, General Gadi Eizenkot, tells the government that Gaza is in economic and social meltdown and says that there is a very real likelihood of war in 2018.
IDF Chief of Staff General Gadi Eizenkot stated at the Israeli cabinet’s weekly meeting on February 4 that a new conflict between Israel and the Hamas in Gaza was likely in 2018. He said that the Gaza Strip is in economic and social meltdown due to Hamas mismanagement of the Gaza Strip, misuse of foreign humanitarian aid and the correspondingly difficult conditions the population are forced to live under.
According to Eizenkot, a severe shortage of electricity and food during the cold winter makes it increasingly likely that Hamas will seek to escalate its attacks on Israel into a full scale conflict in order to distract the population and world media from its lack of basic services and mismanagement.
On Sunday, the Arabic-language Al Quds Al Arabi reported that Hamas believes that there is a 95% chance that war will break out within the next few days or weeks, pointing to the massive Paratroop Brigade drill that is set to take place in the near future. The report said that Hamas has declared a state of high alert and has been massing forces near the border.
Last Tuesday, UN Middle East envoy Nicolay Mladenov warned that Gaza is on the brink of "full collapse". According to Mladenov, the key to saving Gaza from total collapse was the restoration of the Palestinian Authority government led by Mahmoud Abbas to power 10 years after it was forced out by Hamas in a bloody coup.
"Failing that”, said Mladenov at the annual conference of Israel's Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, “Gaza risks exploding in our face again, this time in a far more deadly and violent manner than in the past”.
Tensions along the Northern Border also rise
Tensions along Israel's northern borders with Lebanon and Syria are rising with the continued construction of an Iranian missile production plant in Southern Lebanon and Iranian backed Hezbollah terrorists in Syria, close to the Golan Heights.
IDF spokesperson, Brig-Gen Gonen Manelis said during an on-line interview on a Lebanese opposition web site that the continued construction of a precision missile manufacturing facility, by Iran in Lebanon could bring the two countries to the brink of war and have dire results for the people of Lebanon.
"In Lebanon, Hezbollah does not conceal its attempt to take control of the state," he said, adding that "in the shadow of Nasrallah's bullying behavior" the terror group has built "terror infrastructure and factories to manufacture weapons under the nose of the Lebanese government."
Hezbollah troops give Nazi salute
Since the Second Lebanese War in 2006, when Hezbollah rained down thousands of missiles on Israeli civilian targets, Hezbollah has rebuilt its arsenal with at least 100,000 short-range rockets and several thousand more missiles that can reach central Israel. In addition to a massive arsenal of rockets and missiles, Hezbollah is able to mobilize close to 30,000 fighters and has flouted its tunnel system, complete with ventilation, electricity, and rocket launchers.
If the terrorist organization gains the use of precision missiles, the danger for all of Israel will increase and the risk of war will be closer than ever.
