Israel and Hezbollah attacked each other, the crisis in the Middle East deepened

New Delhi: The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) targeted Hezbollah’s bases in Lebanon, after which Hezbollah also attacked Israel by firing a large number of drones. On Sunday morning, the Israeli army issued a statement accusing Hezbollah of preparing to fire missiles and rockets towards Israeli territory. The Israeli army said that in self-defense to avoid these threats, the Israeli army is attacking those terrorist bases in Lebanon from where Hezbollah was plotting to attack the civilians of Israel. After this, Hezbollah also announced an attack on Israel by firing a large number of drones. Hezbollah said that it has attacked Israel by firing a large number of drones to avenge the killing of its top commander Fouad Shukur in Beirut.

Hezbollah is more powerful than Hamas

Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza has been going on for the last 10 months. Hezbollah has said that it will stop the war if there is a ceasefire agreement in Gaza. Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October last year, after which Israel started attacks on Gaza. Since then, Hezbollah has been attacking Israel. Hezbollah is considered to be more powerful and resource-rich than Hamas. The Institute for Strategic Studies think tank estimated in 2022 that Hezbollah may have 20 thousand active and 30 thousand reserve personnel. Earlier, Hezbollah itself had said that it has an army of 1 lakh fighters. Hezbollah has a large number of rockets, missiles, drones and long range missiles that can target any Israeli location.

The risk of war breaking out in the entire region increased

Due to this attack by Hezbollah on each other, the risk of war breaking out in the entire region has increased, the crisis in the Middle East may deepen and it is feared that this may fail the efforts for a ceasefire agreement in Gaza. If this happens, it will have an impact on the whole world including India. India has good relations with both Israel and Iran. These relations are both economic and strategic. India buys oil in large quantities from the Middle East. Also, this area is a big market for India. Experts say that if the situation in the Middle East worsens and other countries also join this war, then the Strait of Hormuz can become a flash point and this is the route for India’s large amount of oil imports. This will affect this trade route and energy supply. Two-thirds of India’s oil imports come from here. Also, India’s ambitious India-Middle-East-Europe Economic Corridor may also be delayed.

India’s economic and social interests are also at risk

Professor Harsh V. Pant, Vice President of the Centre for Foreign Policy Studies at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), says that the Middle East is the primary source of energy for India. If the situation in the Middle East worsens, the energy crisis may increase. The supply will be affected and its price will also increase. Due to which inflation may increase in India. On one hand, India is continuously strengthening itself economically, but if the crisis increases, it will have a negative impact. A large number of Indians are in the Gulf countries. If the situation worsens, a mission may have to be started to bring Indians back safely from there. India has been strengthening economic relations with Saudi Arabia for a long time and the Chabahar project with Iran was going on, if the situation worsens, all this may be put on hold.