Israel stresses that it wants Iran and Hezbollah to have “no choice but to respond” to its attacks
September 19 () –
The Turkish government on Thursday accused Israel of trying to expand the conflict to Lebanon and stressed that Israeli operations “are increasingly provocative” in an attempt to ensure that the Shiite militia party Hezbollah and Iran “have no choice but to respond.”
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the situation in the Middle East was “really worrying.” “We have reached a point where these operations by Israel are becoming more and more provocative and we have reached the point where Iran, Hezbollah and their close associates have no choice but to respond,” he said.
He stressed that the coordinated explosions of thousands of communication devices used by Hezbollah, which have left more than 30 dead and more than 3,000 wounded – it is not yet clear how many are members of the group and how many are civilians – “is a continuation of the open war that has been going on for almost a year.”
“It is part of Israel’s strategy,” he said, adding that Israeli authorities were seeking to “settle scores with Gaza and then turn their attention to Lebanon,” according to Turkish television channel TRT. “Now we see that this has started to happen, step by step,” Fidan said.
In this regard, he stressed that the Israeli attacks against communication devices “are opportunistic operations.” “It is clear that Israel knew in advance the purchases that Hezbollah was going to make. They penetrated and infiltrated the companies in some way (to place the explosives in the devices),” he denounced.
Fidan also accused Israel of committing “genocide” against the Palestinian population and reiterated that the Israeli government, which he described as “radical and fanatic,” aims to “eliminate all threats.” “To do so, it has mobilized all its military capabilities,” he explained.
“It is pursuing a gradual strategy. It has used a gradual strategy in Gaza. After Gaza, it advances towards Lebanon. After that, it could go after other targets. While doing this, it is getting the support of the United States and the West,” he criticised, before insisting that “there must be the will and the ability to stop this.”
“The international system must unite and stop it before it is too late,” Fidan argued, adding that “this madness does not only harm the Palestinians.” “It has mortgaged the future of Israel and Israelis. If you massacre so many innocent people, steal their land and dishonor them, you will be under the influence of a reaction for many years to come,” he argued.
He added that “it is not known when, in what form and where this reaction will manifest itself, so there will be a spiral of insecurity for the next ten, one hundred years.” “Sensitive Israelis are aware, but the dominant mindset today, the fanatic mindset, applies policies that are far removed from common sense and designed for their destruction,” he concluded.
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