UN warns of catastrophe as Lebanon's Hezbollah fires rockets at Israel

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00:00Well for more we can cross to Jerusalem and speak to our correspondent Eris Mackler who let you

00:04Eris, it's been a very tense week. It seems each successive day there's been an escalation. Tell us more

00:11That's right. It's been an interesting week on both sides of the line. Let's look at Hezbollah

00:17It's been one of the worst weeks for them militarily perhaps, you know in decades actually some say ever

00:23Everyone's attention was focused on those two extraordinary days when the comms equipment first the pages and the walkie-talkies exploded

00:30You know injuring the people who were holding them

00:32But really I'm the most damaging thing perhaps was the airstrike Friday in in Beirut in the Dacia the area controlled by

00:41Hezbollah in southern Beirut and that was significant because it was 16 of the top commanders of

00:48Hezbollah they were there having only made the decision to hold the meeting there the day before

00:54They went they had to meet because they couldn't have any any comms that wasn't face-to-face and at that meeting

01:01They were targeted and assassinated. So it's a sign of Israel's intelligence superiority

01:06But it's also something that demands a response from Hezbollah now, it could take two steps

01:12It could take a step back or it could take a step up

01:14It's decided to take a step up. And so what we're seeing now is these attacks as far south as Haifa

01:19We're seeing increased Israeli

01:22Strikes airstrikes inside southern Lebanon targeting rocket launchers

01:27but still it's not an all-out war and I guess the question is

01:31What happens next because at the moment each side has taken a step up?

01:37can they hold it at that level will it remain a war of attrition like it's been until now or

01:42Or will they drag or force each other into a much much graver

01:47Conflict in which by the way, all the assessments say thousands if not tens of thousands could die on both sides

01:54Yeah, and in the past hour Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, um, he would not tolerate attacks

02:02After rockets were fired from Lebanon. This does not seem to be ending

02:07So areas tell us what are the factors that we need to keep an eye out for that will either lead to an all-out war

02:12or to de-escalation

02:14Well, let's just look at the two parties, you know, can they maintain it at this level could some event, you know

02:21Some unintended event for example, either side killing a large number of civilians. Would that push this from?

02:28Measured each side measured, you know increasing but measured into something larger. There's also international factors

02:35You know, let's look at who is supporting Israel. We know what Washington's view is

02:41Washington doesn't want an escalation here and a regional war especially so close to its election

02:47We know that other European countries including France with its long history with Lebanon are also against an escalation and counseling diplomacy

02:56What does Iran say to Hezbollah? That's the wild card. We don't know the answer to that

03:01We do know that many of the long-range rockets that are held in

03:06in in Lebanon by Hezbollah are actually for the protection of Iran in case of a nuclear attack or an attack on its nuclear

03:14facilities will

03:16Iran be willing to sacrifice those rockets for a war with Israel. We don't know the answers to that but it is

03:22interesting that we've heard we've heard calls for action from the Iranian president and the

03:28Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei within the past 24 hours, but it does also it is also worth

03:35Remembering that when there was an Israeli attack against the Palestinian leader inside Tehran at the end of July

03:41There was not an Iranian military response

03:45So we have to hope that the two sides can be held apart by international pressure if not their own decisions

03:50All right, there is thank you very much. Here's Mackler reporting from Jerusalem

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