Thiloththama Jayasinghe, Jadetimes Staff
T. Jayasinghe is a Jadetimes news reporter covering Political News
Describing in the south of Beirut is a very volatile situation, because everything seems out of control. Explosions at funerals in Dahiyeh, Hezbollah's heartland, show just how unstable it is, especially between the parties of Hezbollah and Israel.
The fact that the attacks were coordinated, employing pagers distributed by Hezbollah to avoid smartphone tracking, speaks to the deeper extent of the communication network that might have been compromised. Hundreds of people have been injured, dozens killed-many of them children. The emotional toll is palpable, as evidenced by mourners speaking defiantly despite the horror they have experienced.
First on the back foot after a year of military involvement, this crippling infrastructure blow and all its ramifications for retaliation and escalation hit Hezbollah. Israel's strategic military moves, such as the relocation of troops from Gaza to the north, signal a wider conflict in the making. An unwanted war, certainly, by many Lebanese burdened by the country's economic crisis, but with no reason to believe current conditions might restrain any of the parties involved.
Now, all eyes will be on the leadership of Hezbollah for their next move. The forthcoming public response by Hassan Nasrallah will be the critical moment that may determine whether violence spirals further into all-out war or just stays at a series of retaliatory strikes.
It's a really gripping, uncertain situation, and each new development can shift the balance.
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