Tensions rise in the Middle East: Southern borders deteriorate following killing of Quds Force leader

The extensive deterioration on the southern borders occurred on Tuesday following the killing of a prominent leader in the Quds Force affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Seyed Razi Mousavi, in an Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of Damascus.

This article was originally published in and translated from the Lebanese newspaper Nidaa Al-Watan.

Reza Mousavi is the highest-ranking commander in the Quds Force to be killed outside Iran since General Qassem Soleimani, the then-commander of the force, was killed in a US airstrike in Iraq on January 3, 2020.

Despite no official announcement from Hezbollah on the one hand and Israel on the other, regarding the connection of recent developments on the southern front to the death of the Iranian general, diplomatic and field sources indicate the entry of a new factor increasing "tensions in the Middle East," according to the Agence France-Press.

In a related context, a diplomatic source renewed through Nidaa Al-Watan its warning to Lebanese leadership, including Hezbollah, about the danger of "submitting to ongoing Israeli provocations, which have escalated to the audacity of carrying out airstrikes more than 20 kilometers deep" as seen in recent days in Jibchit, Jabal al-Rihane, and the Khardali Bridge, both located north of the Litani River.

The source added, "Contrary to the prevailing impression that the West, led by the United States, can prevent Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from expanding the confrontation from Gaza to Lebanon, it appears that Washington has no absolute ability to influence Netanyahu for internal American reasons related to presidential elections and Netanyahu's future, caught between trial and complete political loss."

The source warned that "there is a great fear that Netanyahu may decide to expand the war towards Lebanon. At that point, Washington will be faced with the option of adopting the Israeli approach. Therefore, in its current precarious situation on all fronts, Lebanon cannot bear entering a war regardless of the balance of mutual deterrence."

In addition, the source emphasized that "it is in Lebanon's interest to adhere to the implementation of UN Resolution 1701, especially since it has become clear that Netanyahu wants to drag Lebanon into a war that embarrasses American forces in the Mediterranean and forces them to enter the war, perhaps that Iran will also get involved, leading to an internationalization process that creates a new political path that surpasses all of Netanyahu's internal problems." 

The source also urged Lebanon to "hasten to fulfill its obligations, as it is unacceptable to remain without a president."