Current Events in The Middle East After Hours

[Gemma]

What an absolute mess the world is in right now

There's going to be a world war the way things are going

 

[John Steed]

From the Guardian website:

Israeli warplanes intercepted more than ten cruise missiles outside the country's borders, as well as dozens of drones, Adraee said in a statement on X, adding that the total number of aerial units launched from Iran was about 200.

 

[Tom]

Seems to me this is all orchestrated.

Iran supports Russia in Ukraine. Iran also supports pretty much every faction that hates Israel.

Saudi, Qatar etc all want a stable middle east, because their future depends on it. Who's going to play golf in a Saudi mega resort or use their airports as a hub if there's instability in the region.

Israel want rid of Hamas and Hezbollah. It can't do that with Iran arming them.

Iran is compromising oil shipments in Persian gulf, and supporting Houthis to disrupt shipping in the Red Sea.

So why would Hamas have attacked Israel like they did? It's like suicide mission. Something has happened to trigger all this off and I think all roads lead to Iran with backing from Russia.

There's going to be a world war the way things are going

Netanyahu will do somethiing in retaliation, unfortunately. Whether a response is deserved or not, the world could do without retaliation. Israel could do without it too

 

[Cappuccino Kid]

So why would Hamas have attacked Israel like they did? It's like suicide mission. Something has happened to trigger all this off and I think all roads lead to Iran with backing from Russia.

They literally attacked Israel on Putin's birthday (7th October). It's obvious some coordinated action is taking place. By the time the USA pulls its head out of its arse the situation will have spiralled out of control here too.

 

[Crabtree]

I suspect Hamas were put up to the initial attack by the Iranians, who in turn were put up to it by Moscow.

Net losers here are Ukraine. That was doesn't go on hold whilst everyone is watching this one.

Certainly in Russian interests to have a second conflict going on.

They knew what the Hamas attack would provoke. I don't buy into any theories that Hamas thought they'd get away with it.

 

[Gemma]

Woke up this morning, had a look at my news alerts and saw WW3 was pending. Checked Sky News and immediately thought "oh for fuck sake"

US officials say Israel hit Iran with a missile overnight on Friday, in what appears to be a retaliatory strike after weeks of escalating tensions between the two countries.

There are competing claims about the scale of the attack on the Isfahan region and the extent of any damage, with Iranian state media downplaying its significance.

It comes after weeks of soaring tensions between the regional rivals, which have already seen an Israeli attack on an Iranian compound in Syria, and Iran launch an unprecedented assault against Israel.

 

[Ghost]

The US and UK won't get involved unless their is a direct attack on tem.

The fact is Israel are unpredictable and very dangerous and they don't care what the world thinks. Look at the retaliation in Gaza from October an ongoing bloodbath.

One missile, and it hit, sounds like a message saying if we can get one through, we can get 300 through.

Everyone knew Israel wouldn't back down and would retaliate, so now Iran is obliged to retaliate to the retaliation, because they have already announced they would, so now they can't back down...and so on.

Both have backed themselves into a corner with no plans on how to stop it.

 

[Steve]

 https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1796597569172484235

Hamas should probably accept this if it's sincere, but it's useless in the long run without a clear political vision for the future and a strong commitment to a clear plan to get there.

 

[Dylan]

 https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1796597569172484235

Hamas should probably accept this if it's sincere, but it's useless in the long run without a clear political vision for the future and a strong commitment to a clear plan to get there.

Why would Palestinian side, whoever represents them, accept anything that doesn't lead to their state?

Any sort of ceasfire not leading to the Palestinian state means the end of Palestine as the idea.

 

[Dylan]

Been an escalation lately as Israel targets Hezbollah in Lebanon. I think there is a real danger of all out war in the Middle East.

Hezbollah's leader has said bomb attacks using thousands of the Lebanese armed group's pagers and radios "crossed all red lines", and accused Israel of what he said represented a declaration of war.

In a much-anticipated speech, Hassan Nasrallah acknowledged Hezbollah had suffered an "unprecedented blow", but he vowed it would continue fighting and inflict a "just punishment".

Israel has not said it was behind the blasts on Tuesday and Wednesday, which Lebanese authorities said killed 37 people and wounded 3,000.

As Nasrallah spoke, Israeli warplanes caused sonic booms over Beirut, scaring an already-exhausted population, and others struck targets in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli military said it was operating to "degrade Hezbollah's terrorist capabilities and infrastructure" and to "bring security to northern Israel".

Eleven months of cross-border fighting between Hezbollah and Israel sparked by the war in Gaza have killed hundreds of people, most of them Hezbollah fighters, and displaced tens of thousands on both sides of the border.

Hezbollah has said it is acting in support of the Palestinian armed group Hamas. Both are backed by Iran and proscribed as terrorist organisations by Israel, the UK and other countries.

I don't see what Hezbollah are gaining from this conflict right now. A deal for peace with Israel would maybe be the rational decision at this point, for their own and the Lebanese people sake.