Votes for Israel/Hezbollah

Analysis: Round one to Israel – dangerous and uncertain future

Israel, through its coordinated attacks on launch sites in Lebanon last night, "may have avoided a much bigger disaster and even war". That's what Yonah Jeremy Bob writes in an analysis in the Jerusalem Post.

The attacks helped shrink Hezbollah's offensive in size. And the single most important thing to avoid a major regional war was that Hezbollah did not hit any densely populated areas in its robot attacks - which was avoided.

"The future is very uncertain, but the first round went to Israel," he writes.

Sky News Middle East correspondent Alistar Bunkall also assesses that the IDF "did very well this morning to counter what could have been a much larger Hezbollah attack". The question now is whether Israel "bites down" and accepts the retaliation - or attacks again.

According to Israel, the attacks were carried out with approximately 100 aircraft. In that case, it would be the biggest Israeli attack in Lebanon since the 2006 war, according to BBC correspondent Jon Donnison.

In ABC Australia, John Lyons writes that the Middle East is facing its most dangerous situation in many years. Hezbollah is a much more potent enemy than Hamas. A new major regional war could be "mutually devastating".

"The last time Israel and Hezbollah went to war was in 2006, when everyone suffered and neither side won."

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Expert: Much still unclear – both sides are exaggerating

The full extent of Israel's and Hezbollah's attacks on each other last night is still very unclear, says Middle East expert Anders Persson to TT. There is a lack of information and surprisingly little information comes out about the events, he believes.

Persson wonders about the information that Israel has destroyed "thousands" of launch pads for rockets while only three deaths have been reported in Lebanon.

- To my ears, it sounds a lot. Hezbollah is usually good at hiding these. If true, the death toll should have been higher, as many of these ramps are located in villages and communities.

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The call from the outside world: "Both should refrain from escalation"

The UN calls for a ceasefire after the night's fighting between Hezbollah and Israel, writes AFP. The UN's crisis management force in Lebanon calls on both sides to "refrain from further escalation".

Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati said at a crisis meeting that he had been in contact with several of "Lebanon's friends in an effort to stop the escalation".

"What is required is first and foremost to stop the Israeli aggression, and to implement resolution 1701," he said in a statement.

Egypt's Ministry of Defense warns of the dangers of opening a new war front against Lebanon, writes Reuters. The country calls for stability.