Will Iran ask Hamas to ignite Gaza front in support of Hezbollah?
The recent Israeli operation to expose Hezbollah’s tunnels on the Lebanese border raised questions about Iran-backed Hamas’ exposure should Tehran request it to open a second front against Israel in the event of an Israeli-Hezbollah confrontation.
For a brief moment earlier this month, the possibility of a regional confrontation engaging Israel on two fronts appeared to increase, when Israel launched Operation Northern Shield, an open-ended action to destroy Hezbollah tunnels from Lebanon into northern Israel. “[We are] operating decisively and responsibly on all fronts simultaneously … [against] any party that “tries to harm the State of Israel,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hours after announcing the operation on Dec. 4. The Israeli army moved artillery to the north and called up reserves, heightening the atmosphere of uncertainty.
A week after the start of the operation, the Israeli army said on Dec. 10 that it still had not ruled out the possibility that the operation to destroy Hezbollah’s tunnels might require entering Lebanese territory. The following day, Netanyahu visited the border with Lebanon. “There is great firepower here,” he said, in reference to Hezbollah. “We are prepared for it from all directions.” Some analysts took “all directions” to suggest the possibility of a military escalation in Gaza or Syria in support of Hezbollah should conflict erupt between the Lebanese group and Israel.
Theoretically, with Iran being the main supporter of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah, Tehran could decide to launch simultaneous battles on Israel's Gaza and Lebanon fronts, which would pose a challenge to the Palestinian organizations, requiring them to either acquiesce to or reject the Iranian request. The statements out of Gaza and Beirut after the launch of Israel's tunnel operation raised questions about whether Hamas and other Palestinian factions would indeed engage.
Yousef Sharkawi, a military expert from the West Bank and a retired military commander for the Palestine Liberation Organization, told Al-Monitor, “The participation of the Palestinian resistance, namely Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, alongside Hezbollah is necessary to achieve a front unification policy against Israel. Hezbollah should have supported Gaza in the wars between 2008 and 2014, but it missed this opportunity.”
