Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Air raid sirens have been sounding across northern Israel, sending thousands fleeing
00:04after Hezbollah fired over 100 rockets into the country from southern Lebanon.
00:09Some landed close to the Israeli city of Haifa.
00:12The military saying that rockets had been fired towards civilian areas, pointing to
00:16a possible escalation after previous barrages had mainly been aimed at military targets.
00:22Israel has been carrying out hundreds of strikes on Lebanon in retaliation, Lebanon saying
00:26three people at least have been killed in the south of the country.
00:30Here's Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking a short while ago.
00:37In recent days, we have landed a series of blows on Hezbollah that it could have never
00:42imagined.
00:44If Hezbollah did not get the message, I assure you that it will get the message.
00:49We are determined to safely return our residents to their homes in the north.
00:53No country can tolerate attacks on its citizens, attacks on its cities.
00:58And we, the state of Israel, will not tolerate it either.
01:02We'll do whatever it takes to restore security.
01:04Well, for more, I'm joined now in the studio by Shirley Sitbon from our France 24 news
01:13desk.
01:14Good to have you with us, Shirley.
01:15Some rather explosive rhetoric from Benjamin Netanyahu there.
01:19How much risk is there of this conflict descending at this point into all-out war?
01:25There's clearly a risk and there's threats we're hearing and all of the warning signals
01:30from around the world.
01:31I mean, they show that the situation is extremely tangible.
01:35There has been troop movements, there's been these firings, the Israelis saying they're
01:38ready to go further.
01:39Now, we've heard some people across the world saying, well, the Israelis say they don't
01:44want war, but they've attacked Hezbollah in recent days.
01:48But then again, the Israelis see this as a global war.
01:51They consider they're already in a sort of war with Hezbollah for almost a year now.
01:56And for them, the recent attacks were a way of, were just part of this war, not a reason
02:01to escalate.
02:02But they believe that they just want, that's what they say, they want the firing of rockets
02:06and missiles towards Israel to stop.
02:08And they're pushing Hezbollah to the end.
02:10That's the policy of the Israeli government, saying that military pressure perhaps will
02:15end all this.
02:17And on the Lebanese side, we've seen, we've heard Hassan Nasrallah in recent days saying,
02:21hey, we're ready.
02:22If the Israelis want to escalate this and to bring ground troops into Lebanon, we'll
02:27destroy every tank that crosses the border.
02:31We're ready for them.
02:32So we're hearing this rhetoric on both sides.
02:35Then again, wondering if it's just some kind of very dangerous bluffing, if it's serious.
02:40The Israelis saying they're fearing an invasion, an incursion, infiltration, like what happened
02:46from Gaza on October 7th.
02:48But from the Lebanese side, maybe from Syria, we're hearing that Israelis are also preparing
02:52a foreground invasion of southern Lebanon.
02:56Some Israelis officials saying they should have never, Israel should have never left
03:00the south of Lebanon.
03:01What's going to happen next?
03:02So, yes, of course, there's this rhetoric and extremely serious, very dangerous Israel's
03:08allies saying this should really stop calling on everyone to de-escalate the tension because
03:12nothing good can come out of this.
03:15We're not really sure of, to where, what their interest is.
03:19Many in Israel say, you don't, the Israeli army doesn't have the capacity to both fight
03:23in Gaza and infiltrate the Lebanese border.
03:28It's too much for the Israeli army.
03:30Of course, the Lebanese are also against this and are fearing and are angry at the current
03:36situation.
03:37Let's remind that the Hezbollah is saying that it's fighting Israel because it is backing
03:42the Palestinians in Gaza in their war with Israel.
03:45And the Israelis are saying they're fighting Hezbollah because they want to end the rocket
03:48fire from Lebanon.
03:50So both sides saying that they have legitimate reasons for this and all of the countries
03:54around and in the world saying, no, we have to stop this.
03:57This can only lead to more deaths.
03:59Now, this latest barrage of cross-border rocket fire has affected thousands of people in Israel
04:06and in southern Lebanon.
04:07What's the feeling among both countries' civilian populations right now?
04:11Well, on the Lebanese side, we've heard them in recent days, extremely angry, fearful.
04:18The Israelis have targeted Hezbollah, but civilians have been killed in Lebanon.
04:22And there is this fear generated by the attacks on the communication devices used by Hezbollah.
04:29Of course, at the beginning, Israel did not take responsibility for this.
04:32But the reaction we heard from Netanyahu saying they've had several attacks against Hezbollah,
04:38something they've never experienced before, something that was a terrible blow, seeming
04:42to refer to that attack.
04:43Anyway, the Lebanese are extremely angry and fearful, saying this is useless, a ground
04:47invasion, any type of missile fire toward Lebanon.
04:51And the war in general is basically useless.
04:54And it will be devastating if it continues and if it escalates.
04:57On the Israeli side, people are divided, very tired, very fearful of what is happening.
05:04Some protesting, saying that if there is an escalation, well, then, well, the hostages
05:09held in Hamas, well, they're not, the release will not be negotiated.
05:12This is just fading away.
05:14All the hopes are fading away.
05:16And many believing that an escalation will only lead to more deaths and is, you know,
05:19they're not ready for it.
05:21Other people believe that what the government is saying, that this is the only way to stop
05:26the firing towards Israel, the only way to maintain, to bring back some security because
05:31there were, the residents were unable to go back to their homes in the north.
05:35So the population is divided, extremely concerned by the situation now.
05:40Shelley Sitbon from the France 24 News Desk, thank you very much.