Liz Sly, a journalist and former Middle East correspondent for the Washington Post, spoke to BBC News about the potential dangers if this conflict widens.
Sly says there are “four fronts [that are] quite active right now”, which makes it one of “the most precarious moment we’ve seen since October 7 for the region”.
She says those four fronts are:
- The assassination in Lebanon of Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri, who she says was “instrumental in linking Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran in a sort of axis”.
- Attacks by Houthi rebels on shipping in the Red Sea.
- Warning by the US, UK and 10 other countries that there would be severe consequences if these attacks continue.
- And a deputy commander of an Iraqi militia being assassinated in Baghdad today, “in the heart of the city in a drone strike”. Sly says it has not been confirmed that the United States was behind the killing.
- “The potential for things to spin out of control is there,” she says.
Asked about Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s stance, she says “the situation on the northern front with Hezbollah is alarming for Israel… and they might feel that this is the time to take out Hezbollah as well as Hamas, and go for broke”.
“We are in uncharted territory and I think it is quite hard to tell what the Israeli motives are right now,” Sly adds.
On 25 December, Netanyahu said Israel will intensify its fight against Hamas, and that Israel’s military campaign in Gaza was “not close to being over”.
