Israel’s attacks on Lebanon and Hezbollah have had one major purpose: to ignite a regional war that draws in the US. Terina Hine assesses the situation after Iran’s missile attack

Iran has fired 200 missiles into Israel and has threatened another attack if there is an Israeli response. Having been goaded for months by Netanyahu, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have retaliated.

Whether the strikes lead to an all-out war, embroiling the US into a direct conflict with Iran, is yet to be seen. We may find out in the coming days. The missiles targeted ‘military centres and facilities’ according to Iran.

Reports from Israel say there have been some direct hits. Air raids and explosions were heard in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, but Israel’s Iron Dome managed to intercept the vast majority of the missiles.

The last few weeks, Israel has carried out a major escalation in its war with a series of attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanon. The aim of these attacks was to provoke Iran. First were the exploding pagers – nothing less than an act of state terror – which caused thousands of casualties across Lebanon. Then came bombing raids, hitting heavily populated areas, including central Beirut, which resulted in thousands being maimed, killed, or having to flee their homes.

Israel’s assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, on Friday resulted in the deaths of countless civilians, buried in the rubble, as residential buildings in the capital Beirut were targeted by US-made 2,000-pound bombs.

This followed on from July’s assassination of Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, which took place in Iran itself. But until now Iran has been reluctant to be dragged into Netanyahu’s ugly game.

According to the UN, over one-million Lebanese have now been displaced, most in the last week, as a result of Israel’s dangerous attacks on its neighbour. Hours into its ground offensive on Tuesday, an illegal invasion of a sovereign state, Israel ordered the evacuation of 29 southern Lebanese towns leading to a mass exodus. The Israelis then proceeded to bomb the evacuation route just as they did in Gaza.

The invasion, or ‘limited incursion’ as Israel and its supporters call it, threatens to unleash a war which could cause major devastation across the region.

Netanyahu said his country was ‘in the midst of a campaign against Iran’s axis of evil’ in a message to the Israeli people. In this he included Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen. Israel is conducting an assault on Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Yemen and Syria. It has conducted war crimes again and again, and broken more UN resolutions than any other state. Its incendiary actions are likely to result in a regional war.

None of this could happen without being sanctioned and supported by the US, and the UK as its junior partner. It is US planes that fly over Lebanon and US-made bunker-buster bombs being used. Mealy-mouthed calls for calm and de-escalation mean nothing if the US refuses to stop sending arms and continues to provide diplomatic cover. It continues to reiterate the statement Israel is just ‘defending itself’.

Israel is set on dragging the world into a Middle East war in an attempt to redraw the balance of power in the region. By being allowed to act with impunity for a year in Gaza, given free rein to conduct genocide in front of the world, Israel knows there will be no sanctions for its latest incendiary actions.

Here in the UK we must do what we can to show solidarity with the people of Gaza and Lebanon. The demonstration on Saturday needs to be as big as possible.