Trinity Senator Tom Clonan has warned of the potential for regional war in the Middle East amid Israel’s escalated attacks into Lebanon in recent days.
Speaking to Trinity News yesterday, Clonan, who previously served as an Irish Army Captain in south Lebanon, said: “My fear is that either before or on October 7, Netanyahu will sanction a ground invasion of Lebanon.”
”If that happens, there is the risk of an escalation, a direct confrontation with Iran.”
Since this conversation, Israel has told its troops explicitly to prepare for a possible ground offensive in Lebanon.
October 7 will mark the anniversary of Hamas attacks on Israelis which preceded Israel’s full scale assault on Gaza.
Writing in The Journal earlier this week, Clonan warned that Israel appears “poised to conduct the same type of brutal campaign in Lebanon as conducted in Gaza – with potentially catastrophic consequences for innocent men, women and children”.
Over 600 Lebanese citizens have been killed by Israeli forces in recent days according to Lebanese authorities, with approximately 2,000 injured since the deadly “pager attacks” last week.
Clonan wrote: “In the appalling calculus of war, the daily ‘attrition’ rate or ‘casualty’ rate among mostly innocent Lebanese civilians closely matches that of the IDF’s murderous operations in Gaza.”
“There’s clear signalling that if they go into Lebanon they’re going to slaughter people on the same scale as they have been doing in Gaza,” he told Trinity News.
Clonan highlighted in his article that 15,000 IDF ground troops have already been mobilised towards the Israel-Lebanon border, heightening fears of a possible ground invasion of Lebanon in the coming weeks.
He added that should Israel pursue a ground invasion in Lebanon, it would not go unopposed. While Lebanon’s infrastructure is put at risk by Israeli airstrikes, Clonan clarified that it is believed that Hezbollah has up to 100,000 trained and armed soldiers, as well as a stock of missiles “capable of reaching targets throughout Israel”. Already, Hezbollah has responded to Israeli air raids by firing missiles on civilian targets.
The threat of escalation
In Clonan’s view, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, seems “intent on escalation – with the risk of a regional confrontation against Iran that would potentially bring the US into this war”.
“Whilst this would represent a nightmare scenario for all parties to such a conflict, Netanyahu has shown himself to be immune to such concerns and he and his defence minister and the senior leadership of the [Israeli Defence Forces (IDF)] continue to commit war crimes, apparently oblivious to the consequences.”
He highlighted that against this backdrop, hundreds of Irish troops are currently serving as peacekeepers in south Lebanon. The BBC has reported that there are currently no plans for their removal.
“This is a very difficult time for them – witnessing the escalation in conflict – and for their families in Ireland, it is a painfully worrying moment,” Clonan said in The Journal.
“Meanwhile, the principal victims of conflict in the Middle East are – as always – innocent men, women and children.”
Speaking to Trinity News, he added: “It has been clear from the conduct of operations in Gaza, in the West Bank, and already in Lebanon, that the IDF do not adhere to the international laws of armed conflict, and they’re not adhering to the principles of the Geneva Convention.”
”And that’s the same with Hezbollah. They’re also committing war crimes on a daily basis, by firing missiles and rockets at civilian targets throughout Northern Israel and today at Tel Aviv, and the same with Hamas – the holding of hostages, firing missiles at civilian targets, abducting people, murdering people.”
”So all parties to the conflict are committing war crimes. My fear is for the ordinary men women and children of Lebanon, Palestinian civilians and ultimately Israel itself. None of this is in their interests.”
Additional reporting by Stephen Conneely.
