Published TUESDAY September 24, 2024: 'Raising The Stakes' by ZUMA Press award winning dpa photo-journalist Marwan Naamani: It is now clear that last Tuesday's exploding pager operation in Lebanon was just a first step. What is now unfolding is an Israeli strategy of military escalation against Hezbollah, premised on the risky belief that the militant group can be bombed into a ceasefire before fighting in Gaza ends. Monday's wave of airstrikes in southern Lebanon killed at least 558 people and displaced many thousands, and there is little sign of the campaign slowing. The length of Israel's latest offensive in Lebanon will depend largely on how quickly Hezbollah will come to the table. Welcome to 'Raising The Stakes'
© zReportage.com Issue #955 Story of the Week: Published TUESDAY September 24, 2024: 'Raising The Stakes' by ZUMA Press award winning dpa photo-journalist Marwan Naamani: It is now clear that last Tuesday's exploding pager operation in Lebanon was just a first step. What is now unfolding is an Israeli strategy of military escalation against Hezbollah, premised on the risky belief that the militant group can be bombed into a ceasefire before fighting in Gaza ends. Monday's wave of airstrikes in southern Lebanon killed at least 558 people and displaced many thousands, and there is little sign of the campaign slowing. The length of Israel's latest offensive in Lebanon will depend largely on how quickly Hezbollah will come to the table. Welcome to 'Raising The Stakes'

A pro-Iranian Hezbollah supporter sports a headband that reads in Arabic and Hebrow 'We swear we will cross (into Israel)' during a mass rally in Beirut southern suburb to mark Ashoura, commemorating the martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Hussein.' Hezbollah chief Nasrallah said his party will hit new targets in Israel if it keeps killing civilians in Lebanon, noting a spike in the number of non-combatants killed in the over the border clashes that started nine months ago after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel.
© Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire

A huge plume of smoke rises from heavy Israeli air raids in the southern Lebanese Marjayoun Terrain. Powerful air attacks were launched across much of southern Lebanon. Lebanese Health Ministry said 182 people were killed and more than 700 wounded in what would be the deadliest day in Lebanon since the conflict started in October.
© Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire

A woman holds the picture of one of three party commander of elite al-Radwan brigade, who were killed in an Israeli air raid attack on Beirut southern suburb, during the funeral procession. At least 37 people were killed among them 16 Hezbollah commanders of the elite al-Radwan brigade.
© Marwan Naamani/dpa via ZUMA Press

Pro-Iranian Hezbollah supporters chant slogans during a mass rally in a Beirut southern suburb to mark Ashoura, commemorating the martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Hussein.
© Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire

A Pro-Iranian Hezbollah supporter and his daughter attend a mass rally in Beirut southern suburb to mark Ashoura, commemorating the martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Hussein. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said his party will hit new targets in Israel if it keeps killing civilians in Lebanon, noting a spike in the number of non-combatants killed in the over the border clashes that started nine months ago after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel.
© Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire

A Palestinian refugee boy, wearing the military uniform of Hamas and brandishing a plastic machine gun, during a march in Burj al-Brajneh refugee camp in Beirut which was organized to protest the killing of Haniyeh. The political leader of Hamas, Haniyeh was assassinated along with his personal bodyguard in the Iranian capital Tehran by an apparent Israeli attack.
© Marwan Naamani/dpa via ZUMA Press

Fully veiled Lebanese Muslim women stand in a street decorated with pictures of the party militants, who were killed in latest fighting against Israel in south Lebanon and Iranian leaders, on the 6th day of the month of Muharam in Beirut southern suburb. During Muharram, Islam's second holiest month, Muslim Shiites mark the death of Imam al-Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad in the 7th century, at the Battle of Karbala in present-day Iraq.
© Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire

Mourners pray over the coffins of two children, Hassan and Amira Fadallah, who were killed in an Israeli strike on a building in Beirut's southern suburbs during their funeral. The Israeli military said Tuesday it has carried out a ''targeted attack'' on a commander of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia in Beirut.
© Marwan Naamani/dpa via ZUMA Press

A Palestinian man smokes shisha in a street cafe in Beirut refugee camp of Burj al-Barjneh, decorated with pictures of Yehya al-Sinwar (L), the head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, who has been chosen to replace the late Ismail Haniyeh as the top leader of the Palestinian militant group. Qatar-based Haniyeh was assassinated nearly a week ago in a attack blamed on Israel as he visited Tehran for the inauguration of Iran's new president. The poster on the right under says 'God Forbids' and under left poster of Sinwar reads 'We are coming in a roaring flood.'
© Marwan Naamani/dpa via ZUMA Press

A flower lays on the black charred ground where the car of Hamas commander Samer al-Hajj burned after it was struck in an Israeli drone in the southern Lebanese port city of Sidon. An Israeli drone hit the car of al-Hajj, head of Hamas security inside the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh, 40 kilometers south of Beirut. killing him instantly.
© Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire

Lebanese Foreign Minister ABDALLAH BOU HABIB (L) escorts his French counterpart STEPHANE SEJOURNE (C) and French ambassador to Lebanon HERVE MAGRO following their meeting in Beirut. Sejourne arrived in Lebanon in the latest diplomatic bid to calm tensions and avert a potential war.
© Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire

An image taken from a video released by pro-Iranian Hezbollah military media titled 'Imad', in reference to the name of top party assassinated commander Imad Mognieh, shows footage of underground facility, apparently in Lebanon, used to store and launch precision missiles. The 4 minutes and 35 seconds long video is the latest in a series by the group flaunting its purported military capabilities, as it trades fire with the Israeli military in parallel with the Gaza war.
© Iranian Hezbollah militaryZUMA Press Wire

An image taken from a video released by pro-Iranian Hezbollah military media titled 'Imad', in reference to the name of top party assassinated commander Imad Mognieh, shows footage of underground facility, apparently in Lebanon, used to store and launch precision missiles. The 4 minutes and 35 seconds long video is the latest in a series by the group flaunting its purported military capabilities, as it trades fire with the Israeli military in parallel with the Gaza war.
© Iranian Hezbollah militaryZUMA Press Wire

Hezbollah supporters carry the coffin of a party militants, who was killed in an Israeli air raid that struck what believed to be an ammunition depot, during his funeral procession in the village of Nabi Sheet in Lebanese eastern Bekaa valley.
© Marwan Naamani/dpa via ZUMA Press

Heavy black smoke from an Israeli air strike billows from the Lebanese southern border town of Khiam. Seven pro-Iranian Hezbollah militants and a child were killed in Israeli strikes across south Lebanon as armed group Hezbollah responded with artillery rounds and rockets across the border. The Israeli military has been trading fire with Hezbollah across Lebanon's southern border in parallel with the Gaza war, with hostilities ramping up recently amid fears that a full-scale regional war could erupt.
© Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire

Lebanese men play checkers as others follow the speech of pro-Iranian Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah at a local cafe in Beirut. Nasrallah said his group the delay in the terror group's retaliation for the July 30 assassination of its military commander Fuad Shukur was due to the Israeli and US military mobilization in the region. He also said that his party would assess the impact of its rocket and drone attack on Israeli military targets earlier in the day before determining whether it would carry out further attacks.
© Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire

Women beat on their chests as a sign of mourning as they visit the graves of their beloved ones, dead fighter of pro-Iranian Hezbollah that were killed in fighting against Israel, during a ceremony to mark the 40th day of the assassination of the party top commander Fouad Shukur at a grave yard dedicated for Hezbollah militants.
© Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire

UN Italian peacekeeping soldiers sit in a bunker inside their base in the southern Lebanese border village of Aalma El Chaeb during a level 3 alert, as pro-Iranian Hezbollah and Israeli forces trade missiles across the border.
© Marwan Naamani/dpa via ZUMA Press

A displaced Lebanese walks past a UN vehicle after ending her medical checkup doctors from the Italian contingent in the United Nations peacekeeping troops at a makeshift medical clinic at a school in the southern port city of Tyre. Italian doctors performed medical checkups to several Lebanese who fled their border villages almost nine months ago and livening in dire conditions. Over the border clashes between pro-Iranian Hezbollah and Israeli forces have intensified in the months following the October 07 attack by Hamas and Israel's response in Gaza.
© Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire

Lebanese people gather near a crater caused by an Israeli air raid attack in a Beirut southern suburb. Israel carried out an attack in the Lebanese capital, targeting a senior Hezbollah commander, killing 12 people and wounding 66 others.
© Marwan Naamani/dpa via ZUMA Press

A Lebanese youth shouts slogans during the funeral of three pro-Iranian Hezbollah commanders of elite al-Radwan brigade, who were killed in an Israeli air raid attack on Beirut southern suburb. At least 37 people were killed among them 16 Hezbollah commanders.
© Marwan Naamani/dpa via ZUMA Press

Lebanese army soldiers secure the site where a building was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Beirut southern suburb. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, six people were killed and 15 others were wounded in the strike. IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee says Israeli forces killed Hezbollah rocket division commander Ibrahim Muhammad al-Qubasi in the strike.
© Marwan Naamani/dpa via ZUMA Press

A Syrian refugee family of 5 rides together on motorcycle along Sidon-Beirut, as they flee from Rmeileh in south Lebanon to Beirut. Thousands of families fled southern Lebanon for areas in the capital Beirut and Mount Lebanon, following the expanding Israeli attacks.
© Marwan Naamani/dpa via ZUMA Press

A Lebanese Muslim Shiite man, who fled the south with his family, reacts as he arrives at a school in Beirut. Thousands of families fled southern Lebanon for areas in the capital Beirut and Mount Lebanon, following the expanding Israeli attacks.
© Marwan Naamani/dpa via ZUMA Press