Lebanon torn between aggression and containment during the march in support of the Palestinians in Beirut

Hezbollah declares the Hamas operation a "success at all levels" while the prime minister warns that his country is "in the eye of the storm"

Israel evacuates a large part of the municipality of Metula, on the border, and declares it a restricted military zone

MADRID, 13 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Lebanese Shiite militia party Hezbollah has declared the operation launched last Saturday by Hamas against Israel as a "success at all levels" during the great march in favor of the Palestinian cause that is being held this Friday in the country's capital, Beirut, and in the midst of growing tension with Israeli forces on the border that has led Prime Minister Nayib Mikati to launch an urgent call for containment to avoid a new front of conflict.

"The Al Aqsa Flood operation has been a success at all levels and a unique milestone of historical scope," said cleric Naim Qassem, deputy secretary general of Hezbollah and number two in the organization, this Friday at the large rally in front of The Mojtdaba Mosque, south of Beirut. "We are not frightened," he addressed Israel, "neither by your ships, nor by your weapons, nor by your statements."

After reiterating his organization's "support and applause" for the Hamas operation, Qassem asked all Lebanese "to participate, by all available means, in the confrontation with Israel," reports 'L'Orient le Jour'. .

The border between Lebanon and Israel has been the scene of incidents since last Sunday, the second day of the Hamas operation. This past Wednesday, for example, at least three people were injured as a result of attacks carried out by Israel against Lebanese territory in response to the firing of an anti-tank missile against a checkpoint near the border, an event for which Hezbollah has already has claimed authorship.

In the midst of this scenario, Mikati has warned that his country is now in the "eye of the storm" and that the incidents on the border are awakening "enormous concern" within the Lebanese Government, weakened after years of political frictions. "I am in contact not only with intelligence agents who have asked us to intervene to calm the situation, but also with influential political forces in Lebanon, to whom I have asked for restraint so that they do not fall into the trap of Israeli goings-on," he said. added in statements collected by Al Jazeera.

On the Israeli side, the Army declared this Friday that the part of the municipality of Metula closest to the border with Lebanon is from now on a "restricted military zone", according to a statement from the local council, which cites an order from the Northern Command. of the Israel Defense Forces.

The Army has given an evacuation order to the affected populations and asked citizens who left the area a few days ago not to return to their homes, according to the note collected by the 'Times of Israel'.