Middle East & Africa | Another click of the dial

Israel and Hizbullah creep closer to all-out war

But Israel does not yet have the forces in place to invade

Civil Defense workers are seen at the site of the Israeli air raid attack in Beirut southern suburb.
Photograph: dpa
|KIRYAT SHMONA 

FOR NEARLY a year Israel has fought a defensive war on its border with Lebanon. Since October 8th the pattern has been familiar. Civilians on both sides of the border have fled. Hizbullah, the Shia militia in Lebanon, has fired missiles and launched explosive drones towards the towns and bases near Israel’s northern border. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has responded in kind with artillery and air strikes. That pattern has now been broken.

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