WSJ: Potential Israel-Hezbollah clash raises fears of direct confrontation with Iran

The leadership of Israel's Northern Command is advocating for a tougher stance in the confrontation with the Lebanese Shiite organization Hezbollah, unnamed Israeli officials said.

There is growing support among commanders responsible for defending Israel's northern border for a more aggressive approach against Hezbollah, Caliber.Az reports, citing The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

A senior security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, suggested that Hezbollah's asymmetric response to the elimination of its military wing leader Fuad Shukr in July could lead to "an Israeli attack that would create a new reality on the country’s northern border."

Moreover, WSJ notes that there is an increasing number of voices within Israel's security agencies and among politicians who believe it is "time for the Jewish state to take offensive action against Hezbollah."

Amos Yadlin, a former Israeli intelligence officer and president of the security consulting firm MIND Israel, assessed that Israel should wait for Hezbollah’s response to Shukr's elimination and then "conduct a swift and strong campaign to defeat the organization within days or weeks." "Since [the radical Palestinian movement] Hamas is effectively destroyed, it is time to move north," Yadlin was quoted as saying by the publication.

WSJ writes that the escalation of the confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah threatens to lead to a direct clash between the Jewish state and Iran, which supports the Shiite organization. In such a scenario, the situation in the Middle East risks escalating into a full-scale regional war, potentially involving the United States, which traditionally supports Israel.