On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists from the Gaza Strip invaded Israel and killed over 1,200 Israelis, also taking 240 hostages. Of those 240 hostages, 134 have been freed, six were killed and 103 remain in captivity. Israel retaliated, killing over 41,500 Palestinians in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in bombardments. Most recently, Israel has launched attacks on Lebanon and Iran.
On Sept. 27, the Israel defense force assassinated Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group. The recent conflict between Israel and Hezbollah started when Israel planted microbombs into pagers given to Hezbollah agents who used them as covert communication devices. Shortly after the pager attack, Israel began air raiding Lebanese villages that were keeping control of large weapon supplies and bombs. The situation escalated on Oct. 1 when Iran, a historic ally of Hamas and Hezbollah, launched over a hundred ballistic missiles at Israel that were shot down by the Israeli Defense System.
Israel and Iran have been engaged in what is known as a “shadow war” for years. Leaders around the world fear a broader regional conflict that could engulf the entirety of the Middle East and disrupt the tenuous world order. The primary fear of the U.N. Security Council is what Israel will do in retaliation to the Iranian missile launch. After the launch was over, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, vowed that they would retaliate to the missile strike and that Iran made a “big mistake.”
“Sooner or later the other powers in the Middle East will get involved, and this will become a regional, globally feared conflict,” Sai Kakarala ’28 says. Regardless of personal opinions, the conflict in the Middle East will soon likely involve the whole region, and it is something to keep a watch on.
