Puppet-master Iran in firing line if the Israel-Gaza war gets bigger

We face several key moments in the days ahead, which will determine whether this will end up primarily as an Israel-Hamas war fought in Gaza or something far bigger. The first is whether the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah will choose to support its Hamas allies by opening a second military front against Israel from its strongholds in southern Lebanon.

The second is whether Israel will choose to launch a retaliatory military strike directly at Iran, either at its nuclear facilities or even its leadership, in response to its apparent role in co-ordinating the Hamas attack.

The third is whether Israel will mount a full-scale ground invasion of Gaza to seek to destroy Hamas – an act that would be supported by the West but would further galvanise the Arab world against Israel.

The most immediate and critical of these questions is whether Hezbollah, which is armed with more than 100,000 missiles, will join this war.

From the perspective of Iran, there may never be a better time to attack its implacable enemy, while weakened and fighting a war against Hamas in the south.

Read the article by Cameron Stewart in The Australian.